


Forever and Always

by sandys18



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Action and mild violence, Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst and Romance, Bratva Oliver Queen, Childhood Friends, Drama, Drama & Romance, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Long-Distance Relationship, Mention of Non-con elements (Not descriptive), Romance, Unrequited Love, bit of sexy times, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-13
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2018-06-08 03:03:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 80,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6836425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sandys18/pseuds/sandys18
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Her phone buzzed on her nightstand, drawing her out from her thoughts.</p><p>She lazily reached out and picked it up. “Hello, Oliver.” She hadn’t even needed to check the phone to know who it was. She just knew. It had kind of been their ritual every night for the past three years, after all. She would come home utterly exhausted, and he would call her minutes later - mostly to gloat about how ARGUS had once again had failed to catch him.</p><p>“That was fast. You usually wait till the third ring to answer.” Oliver laughed on the other end.</p><p>“One day you’re going to get caught because of these calls!” She warned him, even though she  made sure everyday her phone and her home were bug-free.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. October 30th, 2015

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So I started a new story. Don't worry I haven't abandoned the others. (I'm planning to update Never Forgotten very soon)  
> This started off as a one shot, but it kept getting longer. So I decided to break it down into three chapters. And I know I'm always late with the updates, but I have already written 2 chapters in this and I only have to write the last scene of chapter 3. So, you don't have to worry about updates.  
> ********************************************************************************************************************
> 
> IMPORTANT NOTE: This story is inspired by the TV show "The Pretender". 
> 
> I will update the next chapter in a couple of days or so.
> 
> Let me know if you liked it or not. 
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I do not own Arrow, any characters or anything else you might find familiar.  
> ********************************************************************************************************************  
> Thanks so much to The-nerd-princess for checking this chapter <3  
> Thanks to victori96572376 for the wonderful posters. <3  
> And thanks to Almondblossom for all the encouragement <3

**Forever and Always**

In 1990,  a secret organization known as ARGUS set forth a project involving gifted children. The project, which was called “TEMPEST”, gave the appearance of being a well meaning research program that was trying to understand how young genius minds worked. However, their actual agenda was far from being noble. ARGUS’ aim from the beginning had been to train these gifted minds to do everything imaginable, in every field imaginable, so that they could exploit their abilities for the advantage of their organisation.

The project was first handled by a neuroscientist named Walter Steele, who at the time of accepting the project, hadn’t been aware of ARGUS’ true intentions.

None of the three geniuses they experimented on knew much about their pasts. They were only called by their first names and were never allowed to go outside of ARGUS or have a normal childhood.

The first genius ARGUS brought into their facility was Oliver - a gifted three-year-old with an IQ of 176.

The next genius, Laurel, had arrived at the facility a year later, in 1991 . Laurel, who had been just few months younger than Oliver, had an IQ level of 172.

Felicity, the youngest of the trio, was brought to the facility in 1995 when she too was just three years old. Her IQ had been 179 when she had first joined, but it had increased up to 187 with the training they had given her.

Though all three could practically do anything they set their mind to, each one of them excelled in different fields. Felicity in Computer Sciences, Oliver in Engineering and Laurel in Forensics.  

But, their training was not limited to books. The trio was also given physical training.

In spite of having the highest IQ, Felicity had never been that good at any of the physical activities. Oliver, however, had managed to master every weapon and fighting styles they had taught him with ease.

In 2010, twenty-three-year-old Oliver escaped from ARGUS. They had no choice but to rely on the two remaining geniuses to help bring him back to the facility.

While they forced Felicity to use her technological knowhow to find Oliver, Laurel was placed in charge of the team of ARGUS agents that were assigned to bring Oliver back. But, even with the two geniuses on ARGUS’ side, scouring the Earth for a man who had the ability to become anyone he wanted to be had been harder than looking for a needle in a haystack.

In fact, five years had gone by since he had escaped and other than a few close encounters, they hadn’t managed to catch him.

But the organisation was far from giving up.

* * *

**_Almost five years after Oliver’s escape ..._ **

**_October 30th, 2015_ **

Felicity threw her phone on to the nightstand, kicked her heels off her feet and flopped into her bed.

It had been a long day. Trying to find Oliver hadn’t been easy. Especially since her efforts were half-hearted at most. And, having Laurel breathing down her neck whenever they found another clue on Oliver had made matters that much worse for her.

“Agh!” She yelled in frustration. This cat and mouse game with Oliver had been going on for almost half a decade now, and it was wearing her out mentally and physically.

Her phone buzzed on her nightstand, drawing her out from her thoughts.

She lazily reached out and picked it up. “Hello, Oliver.” She hadn’t even needed to check the phone to know who it was. She just knew. It had kind of been their ritual every night for the past three years after all. She would come home utterly exhausted, and he would call her minutes later - mostly to gloat about how ARGUS had once again had failed to catch him.

“ _That was fast. You usually wait till the third ring to answer.”_ Oliver laughed on the other end.

“One day you’re going to get caught because of these calls!” She warned him, even though she  made sure everyday her phone and her home were bug-free.

She might have been living in a house just few miles away from ARGUS’ headquarters, and they might have been keeping a close eye on her as they did with most of their agents, but she knew the way ARGUS worked like the back of her hand. So, it was easy for her to make sure they knew only what she wanted them to know about what was going on with her life.

“ _Is that your way of saying you’re worried about me?”_

She could almost imagine Oliver’s face; his blue eyes gleaming with mischief, and his lips curving into a sexy smirk that could make any girl feel a bit weak in the knees.

“If it works for you, then go with it.” She teased, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

“ _OK…_ ” She heard him laugh. Not a full laugh this time, but a breathy, contented one.

She wished she could see him laugh that way with her own eyes. She hadn’t seen him in four years, eight months and two days. Security footage she had found of him getting in and out of buildings and cars didn’t count.

“I miss you.” The words had just spilled out of her unexpectedly, and her heart stopped beating for a moment. She shouldn’t have confessed to something like that. They may have been friends years ago, but now their roles had changed.

Now, she was a twenty-three-year-old genius trying to help ARGUS bring the twenty-eight-year-old Oliver back to their facility. She may not have been working to the best of her ability, and she may have deliberately sabotaged a few of their searches to help Oliver out, but things were much more complicated now than they were five years ago. He wasn’t the boy who escaped ARGUS to find his parents, and neither was she the teenage girl who had cried herself to sleep after he had left.

“ _Felicity…_ ” He said her name as if it had a greater meaning, but said nothing more.

A sigh escaped her lips.

She wasn’t expecting him to say that he missed her anyway.

She knew she wasn’t who he missed. She knew she wasn’t who he wished he could call every night. She knew she wasn’t who he was in love with.

But, knowing didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

Felicity began to play with the charm bracelet around her wrist out of habit. It wasn’t the most stylish bracelet around. Just a series of purple and pink plastic beads with a letter on each.

“ _Forever and always.”_ She mentally read the words those letters spelled out, and closed her eyes to ignore the heaviness in her chest.

Her thoughts immediately ran back to their younger days, when she was first introduced to Oliver and Laurel, the girl he had always been in love with.

* * *

 

  
“ _Hello Felicity, my name is Walter Steele.” She remembered her three-year-old self thinking that Walter Steele looked like a giant - not a scary giant, but a very friendly, gentle one._

“ _Hi...” She had hugged the small rag doll in her arms tightly, squirming further into the arm chair she had been sitting in._

_The room ARGUS had been keeping her locked up in had been all white and slightly cold. It had a bed, two chairs, a bathroom and a table which she had often used to do her colorings.  The room had been sterilely clean - nothing like the messy room she used to have at her home in Vegas. In fact, nothing had been the same since the day her mama  passed away, and she was snatched from her bed at her foster parents’ house._

“ _Don’t be scared, Felicity. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just going to introduce you to two new friends.”_

_Her ears had perked up in excitement. She hadn’t seen anyone her age ever since she had been locked up in the white room. The grownups that had come to visit her every once in awhile had been nice to her, but she had been sad and lonely without anyone to play with._

“ _Friends? Are they three years old like me Mr. Walter?”_

“A _few years older than you. But I think you’ll like them.” Walter had stood up, extending his hand in invitation._

_She had been taught by her mama to not trust strangers. However, there had been something about Walter that had made her want to trust him. “Can I take Molly with me?” She had held her doll up high for Walter to see._

_She had never gone anywhere without her, not after her mama died._

“ _Of course.”_

_Felicity had quickly wrapped her hand around the man’s thumb and had let him lead her out of her room._

_After living in a confined space for days, walking through the hallways of the large building had felt a little overwhelming. The curious glances the men and women in white coats had given her had scared her so much so she had found herself hiding behind Walter._

“ _Here were are.”  Walter had said, stopping in front of a room made with glass walls._

_Her stomach had fluttered in excitement as she stepped forward to peek through the glass._

_It had looked more like a home, unlike her small white room. There had even  been far more furniture than she used to have in her own home._

_The colorful books that had been lying about the floor had caught her attention the most._

_But, her focus had quickly gone towards the brown haired girl who had shrieked as if she had just been spooked by something._

_The girl had looked a bit older and taller than Felicity, and she had looked very disgusted by the story the boy in front of her had been telling her._

_Felicity hadn’t been able to see the boy’s face since he had his back turned to her, but he had been talking rather animatedly with the girl - jumping up and throwing his hands around._

“ _Let’s go in, shall we?”_

_Felicity had nodded eagerly as she watched Walter press his thumb against the scanner to unlock the door._

_WIth a woosh, the doors had opened._ “ _Oliver! Laurel! I want you to meet someone.”_

_The girl and the boy had rushed towards them, greeting Walter with smiles._

“ _Children, this is Felicity.” Walter had introduced her, gently nudging her forward towards the other two children._

“ _Hi Felicity. My name is Laurel.”_

_She had been beautiful even then._

“ _You look like Rapunzel. But your hair is brown - like the chocolate mama used to give me sometimes. Only sometimes because mama said it’s not good for my teeth.” Felicity remembered telling Laurel, who had looked at her confusedly as if she didn’t agree with the comparison._

“ _Walter! Walter! Is Felicity an angel?”_

_Felicity eyes  had at once turned to the blue-eyed boy with dirty blonde hair who had been tugging on Walter’s arm to get his attention._

“ _No. She’s a genius, just like you. But she does look like an angel, doesn’t she, Oliver?”_

“ _Yeah. She does” A warm smile had taken over Oliver’s face before he had turned around to introduce himself. “Hi, I’m Oliver. I’m almost eight. And Walter says I’m a genius.”_

“ _Hi... I’m three years five months and four days old.”_

_Felicity could still recall how everyone had laughed at her response. At the time, Felicity hadn’t understood why they had found her answer so funny. Just because she was a certified genius at the age of three didn’t mean she also had the ability to understand people, emotions or humor. She had been just a toddler - well, a toddler who could do grade four mathematics better than a fourth grader._

“ _You’re really pretty. I like your hair. It’s like honey and gold.” Oliver had stepped forward and touched the ends of one of her curly blonde locks._

_Felicity hadn’t known how to reply. She had just shyly looked down at her panda shoes._

“ _I think it kind of looks messy.” Laurel had commented, folding her arms in front of her chest._

“ _I don’t have my mama to brush it right anymore.” Tears had welled up in her eyes in a second’s time._

_Her mother had to use to tie it into two pigtails, but the people at the facility had just brushed it backwards after her morning shower._

“ _Oh? I’m sorry.” Laurel had added quickly._

“ _It’s alright Felicity. Laurel and I… we’ll teach you to brush your hair.” Oliver had put his hand on his new friend’s shoulder, and just like that the sadness had disappeared._

“ _She will be staying with both of you from now on. So be nice to her.”_

_While Oliver had looked elated at Walter’s statement, Laurel had looked at their new roommate apathetically._

“ _Felicity, let me show you around.” Oliver had grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the group before she could even understand what was happening. “Laurel, are you coming with us?”_

“ _No. I have to finish my book.” She had opted to stay in the small study area and read instead of participating in the_ ‘grand tour of their glass cage _’ as Oliver had kept calling it. Although, strangely, the glass walls hadn’t looked like glass from the inside. The walls had been opaque and had seemed like regular walls._

“ _That is my room. And the one next to mine is Laurel’s. I think this one might be yours.” Oliver had taken her to one of the smaller compartments inside the glass room. It had looked thousand times better than the room she had been sleeping in for the last few days._

“ _So, do you like it?”_

 _She had looked around before answering. There had been two pink and purple butterflies painted on the walls of her room, and all the sheets and pillows were pink, just like it had been in her room at home._ “ _Yeah. I think I like it. Pink and purple are my favorite colors.”_

“ _Yeah?”_

“ _Uh huh.” She had nodded handing her doll to Oliver. “Molly says she thinks we’ll be good friends.”_

“ _Yeah?”_

“ _Yeah.”_

“ _So, friends then?”  He had held his hand out for her to shake._

“ _Forever and always?” She had happily taken his hand._

“ _Forever and always.” He had promised before dragging her away to show her his drawings._

_The weight of those words may not have hit the three year old Felicity back then, but as time passed, she had realized that those words had come to mean everything to her._

* * *

 

_“Felicity, are you still there?”_

Her eyes snapped opened at Oliver’s voice coming over the phone. “Uhm… yeah…”

“ _Are you OK? You were very quiet for a while_.” Listening to him speak so softly in her ear did something to her insides, and she curled up into a ball hoping the feelings would go away.

“Yeah..Sorry..I’m fine.”  

Silence stretched between them soon after.

The only thing she heard was the sound of Oliver’s steady breaths, and she felt as if he was right beside her when he was probably somewhere far away.  

“ _I’m glad you’re still wearing the bracelet._ ” He said after a long while, breaking the silence.

“What?”

How did he know she was wearing the bracelet? Was he close by? Could he see her? Her heart began to thud against her chest as fear, excitement and hope blossomed inside of her.

She sat up straight and looked around her room.

“ _Don’t worry, I’m not a stalker. I’m hundreds of miles away from where you are._ ”

Felicity didn’t know if she was relieved or disappointed by his response- to know he was miles away from her, miles away from ARGUS- , but she tried to sound unaffected. “Well, you certainly fit the profile. You keep calling me every night. You know what I’m wearing on my wrist. You probably know what I had for breakfast.”

“ _If you ever thought I was stalking you, you would’ve changed your number by now. And as for your second accusation, I just knew. I just knew you were wearing the bracelet. You promised me the day I gave it to you that you’d never take it off and I trust you to keep that promise_.”

Tears pricked in her eyes at his words. He had made it for her ten years ago for her thirteenth birthday. “You remember?” She hadn’t thought he would remember. Considering everything they had both gone through for the last ten years, a bracelet seemed like just a simple moment that he could’ve easily forgotten about.

“ _Yeah…I’m a bit disappointed that you thought I would ever forget that.” He huffed out an amused laugh. “Anyway… I’ll talk to you tomorrow night then?”_

“Hmm…” She hummed a ‘yes’, not trusting her voice.

“ _Good night, Felicity_.”

She thought she caught a note of longing in his voice, and it made her wish he was next her. Then, she would have been able to take his longing and pain away just as he used to do when he was younger - when she had nightmares - when she had cried, missing her mama.  “Yeah..uhm... good night.”

“ _And, Felicity…”_

“Hmm... mmm?”

“ _I miss you too.”_ He hung up after a beat of silence. And it was all that was needed for her tears to finally fall.

* * *

 

The rickety motel bed made a creaking noise as Oliver turned on his back and put his phone aside.

It was another cold, lonely night in Russia. The broken, old heater in the corner of the room produced more sound than it actually produced heat. He would have fixed it if he didn’t have an aching bullet wound on his shoulder. But, the pain felt worth it when he thought about the innocent girl he had saved from the hands of her rapist  boyfriend.

“Agh!” He grumbled as he shifted a little on the bed to make himself more comfortable.

The past few years had been rough on him.

Especially the part where it required him to stay away from his Felicity. She may not know it yet, or maybe she did, either way, she was the only person in the world that mattered to him. She had been his very own ray of sunshine within the confines of ARGUS. She was his very own rainbow that helped him through his darkest times as he ran from city to city, country to country. The five minutes or so he got to speak to her nightly over the phone had been the best part of his life for the last few years.

He wanted her to have everything, to give her everything. He wanted her to live - something he could neither provide nor she could ever really have while she lived under ARGUS’ regime.

Someone like her deserved more than an ARGUS owned and monitored tiny two-bedroom house. She deserved freedom.

The only way to give her that was to expose and destroy ARGUS. Thus why he had escaped half a decade ago.

She had been the very reason why he had been trying to expose ARGUS and their deeds to the world for all these years. They had too many connections and allies, and he had very little evidence to expose them in a way that would destroy them for good, and still ensure Felicity’s safety.

If he had ever told her he was doing all of this for her, she wouldn’t have ever approved of it. She probably wouldn’t have ever let him escape.

There were nights he wished he had let her come along with him.

How could he have though? How could he have brought her along with him when he himself hadn’t known what the outside world was actually like? How could he have brought her along with him when he knew they wouldn’t be safe until ARGUS was brought to justice? He had been twenty three and she had just turned eighteen then. The life of a runaway wasn’t what he wanted for her.

The scars that covered his body told him he had made the right decision. The tattoos on his skin constantly reminded him that Felicity was better off at ARGUS for the time being.

She was actually better off not knowing what he had needed to do in order to simply survive and keep ARGUS at bay.

But, once this was all over  - once ARGUS was no more and they would both free - he would go to her and take her around the world with him. That hope, that thought, was the only thing that helped him sleep at night.

  



	2. February 14th, 2016

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!!! I'm so overwhelmed by the response to the first chapter. You all are the best. Hope you guys like this chapter as well. I decided to extend the story up to 5 chapters. Because I felt like there's a lot more to tell with these characters.
> 
> Huge thanks to The-nerd-princess for checking this chapter  
> Thanks to the awesomely talented victori96572376 for the posters.  
> And thanks wonderful Almondblossom for all the encouragement.
> 
> Love to hear what you thought of the chapter!!!

**_14th February 2016_ **

Felicity very rarely took days off from work. It wasn’t just due to the fact that ARGUS didn’t offer medical or annual leaves, like any other normal organisations that cared about human rights would, or due to the tantrums Laurel threw whenever Felicity even thought of taking a break from work. It had everything to do with making sure Oliver was safe, and she knew she could only do that properly  if she was at ARGUS.

However, it was that time of the month again, and she just didn’t have the strength to even get out of bed. The few times that she had gotten out of the bed had been purely out of necessity. She knew all the biological reasons behind why she was going through this pain, but that didn’t stop her from whining about it.

“Why? Why does it have to be so painful?” She scooped up a spoonful of the melted chocolate mint chip ice cream from the bowl lying on her lap and shoved it into her mouth.

The fourth glass of red wine she had poured herself was already empty. She wanted another one, but she just didn’t have the will to get up.

Muttering a few choice words about her misery, she lowered the volume on the TV. Some kind of sitcom about four nerds and a blonde had been playing for almost fifteen minutes now, but she was barely paying any attention to it. However, it wasn’t just the stomach cramps that were distracting her from enjoying the stupid TV show. She kept worrying over Oliver. She kept wondering whether  ARGUS had managed to catch him while she spent the day lounging on her bed, drinking wine and eating ice cream.

She could easily call Laurel or even hack into ARGUS, and find out what had happened while she had been away. Yet she was afraid they would notice that she was way too concerned about the well being of the man they were trying to catch.

 She looked up at the old-fashioned clock on her left. It was still seven forty, and Oliver usually called around nine. “This is going to be the longest one hour and twenty minutes  of my life.” She muttered, staring at the clock as if willing its hands to move faster.

  _But I don't care what they say_

_I'm in love with you_

_They try to pull me away_

_But they don't know the truth._

The pop song blazing out from her phone startled her. She quickly picked it up and checked the display.  Someone was calling her from an unknown number, but she couldn’t remember ever setting this particular song as a ringtone. 

For a few seconds, she just glared at the phone without answering.

_My heart's crippled by the vein_

_That I keep on closing_

_You cut me open and I_

_Keep bleeding._

 The song continued to play as she wondered whether the call was from Oliver.

  _Keep bleeding_

_Keep, keep bleeding love_

_I keep bleeding_

_I keep, keep bleeding love_

 The irony between the song lyrics and her current state of health wasn’t lost on her. And that strange sense of humor was what assured her that Oliver surely had to have had something to do with this.

 A smile rose on her face at the thought. He was still, in many ways, that silly young boy she had met twenty years ago.

 But how could he possibly know she was on her period? And how the hell did he change her ring tone? And why was he calling her this early?

 Was he in trouble?

 She quickly swept her finger across her smartphone to answer the call.

  _“Do you like your new ringtone?”_ She could hear a hint of a laugh in Oliver’s voice.

 “How did you--When did you-- Are you ok?” 

“ _I’m fine, Felicity._ ” 

She released a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. “Good.” She put the ice cream bowl aside and pulled her comforter up to her chest. 

“ _But are you ok?_ ” 

“Yeah, just peachy.” She fixed her glasses, and flashed a fake smile into her phone even though she very well knew he couldn’t see her. 

“ _Hmm…Are you sure? You sound a little... moody? Also, red wine and chocolate mint chip ice cream in bed? It can only mean one thing…_ ” 

“How did you--” She gasped. Chocolate mint chip had always been her number one comfort food for years. It was the only thing she could happily eat when she was on her period. Honestly, it was the only comfort food available in ARGUS refrigerators. And Oliver knew that. But how in the world did he know that she was eating ice cream right at that moment? And how in the world did he know about her new found love for red wine? 

Had he been in her house? Was he still in her house? She looked around for a second and shook her head, thinking that it was impossible. Why would he risk it? Her house might be bug free, but she knew for a fact there were ARGUS agents spying on her house tonight. Furthermore, all houses five miles radius of her home were occupied by ARGUS agents. It would not just be dangerous for him to sneak into her house, but plain and simply stupid!

 “ _I have my ways...”_  Oliver replied cockily. 

“Whatever…” She rolled her eyes and acted as if she didn’t care. Nonetheless it gnawed at her. She hated mysteries and not knowing. 

 _“It’s bothering you, isn’t it? Not knowing how I know?_ ” He mocked and she grumbled in response. Sometimes she hated that he knew her so well. 

“But you know I’ll find out. I always find out.” 

“I know,” he said with conviction. He had always believed in her, just as she had always believed in him. 

“ _Felicity…_ ” 

“Yeah?” She held her phone closer against her ear. 

“ _Look under your bed._ ” 

She frowned at hearing his very peculiar request. “What?” 

“ _You might find a clue that would probably help you figure out how I know_.” 

She bent over without completely getting out of bed to see what Oliver was talking about. “Oh, my God!” Her eyes went wide spotting a fairly large red box underneath. 

“Oliver, what is this?” She slowly dragged it out from under the bed before settling herself back into her previous position. What could this mean? Had he really been here? But when? She hadn’t left the house the whole day.

“How did you put it in here? Were you here? Are you crazy? What if someone had seen you?” 

“ _It’s a gift_.” That’s all he offered. 

Blowing out an exasperated breath, she let her hand wander over the box. “You know that this is borderline stalking behaviour, right?” She joked. 

“ _If you ask me not to call you again, not to bother you, I won’t. I just--”_  

“Oliver…” She hadn’t meant to hurt him. And she most definitely didn’t want him to stop calling her. She didn’t want to lose this little time she got to talk with him. 

She hadn’t heard a peep from him for two years after his escape. Only because he hadn’t had any safe way of contacting her until she had gotten permission to live in a house outside ARGUS Headquarters.   

However, just because she no longer lived in a glass room at ARGUS, it didn’t mean she had the freedom every other twenty-three-year-old had. They still controlled most things in her life. She was still a prisoner in many ways. Not only did she live in an ARGUS owned-and-monitored land, she wasn’t allowed to travel anywhere without a small army of ARGUS agents escorting her.   

She had asked for freedom from them, but what they had given her was merely an illusion of it. 

It hadn’t felt like living, and her home hadn’t felt like a home, until one night, out of the blue, Oliver had called her.

She didn’t know how he had even managed to get a hold of her number. It was a private number only given out to ARGUS members. To this day she hadn’t asked how. She hadn’t cared even if the mystery of it all had torment ed her. She had simply been too happy to hear his voice and too concerned about erasing all traces of his calls, to think about all the hows, the whys and the wheres. 

It would completely destroy her if she were to lose this connection, lose him again. However she knew _this_ probably couldn’t go on forever. One day, Laurel and he probably would find their way back to each other, or he would build a life for himself with someone in the outside world, and probably forget about his life at ARGUS completely. Or perhaps, one day, she might have to tell him to stop calling her because these calls were putting his life in harm’s way.   

“Oliver… I would only ask you to stop calling me if I thought you were in danger. ” 

“ _But, Felicity--”_

She cut him off. “No! No buts! If I ever ask you to stop calling me because I’m afraid for your life, promise me you’ll do it.” 

He was silent for a few heartbeats, and then she heard him take a long breath. “ _I meant what I said earlier Felicity. If it’s you asking I’ll do it…Even if it breaks me.”_  

His words tugged at her heart strings. She clasped the gift box in her hands tightly, nails digging into its velvety cover. She didn’t want to think too much into it, but she couldn’t help it. 

“ _Felicity…_ ” 

“Hmm?” 

“ _Happy Valentine's Day,”_ he had wished, much to her surprise. 

Shouldn’t he be saying this to Laurel? Because she was just Felicity. She was not Laurel. 

“ _Open your gift._ ” 

At Oliver’s request her eyes dropped to the gift box in her clasp. 

She slowly lifted its lid and saw a heart shaped card on top of the tissue that veiled the actual gift. _Happy Valentine’s Day, to Felicity from O,_ he had written on the inside. 

He may have been a genius just like her, but poetry just wasn’t something he did. Yet, it was him and she loved it. 

It actually reminded her of the card she had made for him ten years ago.

 

* * *

 

 _It had taken her more than a few hours to make the card look perfect. It had taken her even more time to come up with a verse._  

“ _You make me happy, you make me smile._

_You always have, I know you always will._

_You make me forget the sad days, make me remember the good ones._

_You’re always there for me and I promise I’ll be there too._

_Forever and Always.”_

_At age thirteen, she had been no Shakespeare either. Literature never had been her strongest suit._

_However she had been so pleased with it back then, when she had straightened her brand new spectacles and skipped towards Oliver’s room to give him the card._

_As they had gotten older, ARGUS had started to monitor them much more closely. There had even been rumors about separating the room into smaller rooms, and putting up locks so they couldn’t wander into each other’s rooms at will. “Thankfully, that day isn’t today,” she had sang happily as she gently pushed the door to Oliver’s room open._

_She had almost gone inside, but had stopped, realizing that Oliver wasn’t the only person in the room._

_Laurel!_  

 _She had been there, standing in front of Oliver. In his possession had been a Valentine’s card much like her own. “I hope you like my card, Oliver.” She had smiled shyly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear._  

 _“Laurel, I...” he had stuttered._  

 _Then, not even a second later, Laurel had leaned  forward and placed her lips on his lips._  

 _Oliver hadn’t pulled away like Felicity had wished he would have done. He had simply stood there frozen for a moment, before bringing his hands up and grabbing Laurel’s hands._  

 _What she had seen that day had broken her thirteen-year-old heart._  

 _She had gone to her room and had cried the whole night, her arms wrapped around her doll Molly._  

 _It was the day that reality hit her._  

 _Oliver and she could never be. He might not even ever see her as anything more than a kid._  

 _But she had never stopped loving him._  

 _She couldn’t._  

_That could be why she had kept that Valentine’s Day card she had made all those years ago, still stowed away in a small box inside her closet._

 

* * *

 

She eyed the shiny new Valentine card given to her by Oliver. Why did he give it to her? Why now? Why her? Why not Laurel? 

 _“What did you think of the gift?”_ Oliver’s eager voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and her eyes fell to the gift box again. 

She carefully removed the tissue, and discovered a deep red evening dress inside. “Oh, my God, Oliver!” She took it out of the box and ran her hands over the soft silk. She had never owned something so beautiful or elegant before and she doubted she would ever find an occasion to wear a dress like this. ARGUS wasn’t exactly the kind of company that threw Christmas or New Years parties for its employees. 

 _“Try it on. And … send me a picture_.” He urged her. 

She felt a blush creep into her cheeks. They had been talking to each other over the phone for three years, but this was the first time he had asked for anything of this sort from her. 

“I can’t,” she replied, biting on her lower lip. 

 _“Can’t, or won’t?”_  

“Both. But mostly... I won’t! I will try it on when I meet you again -- face to face.” She couldn’t believe she had dared to issue him such a challenge. Perhaps it was the hormones, or perhaps it was the wine, or perhaps she was feeling a little depressed over the fact that she was spending Valentine’s day on her queen sized bed, all by herself. Either way, she wasn’t in the mood to take those words back. To be honest, she didn’t know how to. 

 _“Felicity…”_ He started to object, but she stopped him. 

“No, Oliver! It might take us decades to meet. I might be an 84-year-old woman by then, but that’s when I’ll be wearing this dress. That’s when you’ll see me wearing this dress.” 

“Felicity… but…” 

She knew the reason behind his hesitation. Any other night, she probably would have hesitated too. Because, there was no telling what would happen if ARGUS were to ever catch him again. There was no telling if they would ever get to meet each other again, but she had to believe that they would. “Don’t argue with me on this. You won’t win.” 

 _“Ok, I won’t.”_ His chuckle made her smile. 

“Good.” 

He laughed again, _“So then... Good night Felicity…”_

“Got tired of me already?”  Since he had called her earlier than normal, she had secretly hoped they could continue talking a little bit longer. At least until she dozed off. 

 _“Never! I would never get tired of you. How could anyone?”_ He responded with certainty. _“But… I have to go. There’s something I have to take care of.”_  

“Oh?” She couldn’t hide her disappointment. 

“ _Yeah.”_  

“Hmm… Good night then.” 

 _“Good night.”_  

Neither hung up. They waited for the other to do it. 

 _“Felicity…I ...”_ He paused.  The way he said her name made her stomach flutter for some reason. 

“Yeah?” 

 _“I...lo--_ ” then silence again. Her heart beated wildly, secretly wishing to hear those words she had hoped to hear him say for a long time. _“I’ll talk to you tomorrow,”_ he mumbled instead. 

“Ok.” She replied, ignoring the slight pang she felt in her chest. 

A sigh and a second later, he ended the call. 

* * *

 

Oliver started up his car and looked at his phone lying on the seat next to him. On the display, he could clearly see Felicity’s name flashing as the last dialed contact. It was very tempting for him to press his thumb on the screen and tell her what he should have told her years ago, tell her what he had almost confessed just seconds ago over the phone. 

“I love you, Felicity.” He mumbled just to himself like an idiot. He had wanted to tell her those three words so badly for years now, but at the same time, he felt as if keeping them to himself would somehow keep her safe. Even his genius brain couldn’t find the logic behind his reasoning. He just felt as if it was the right thing to do for the time being. 

His phone buzzed and a text message popped up, right when he was about to drive off. “Встреча будет в 9. Не опаздывайте.” [ _Meeting is at 9. Don’t be late.]_ The text was from Anatoly Knyazev, a powerful Bratva Pakhan, who had taken Oliver under his wing. He had met the middle-aged Pakhan about three months ago, and he had promised Oliver that he would help expose ARGUS in exchange for his many skills. Thus, for the last five months, he had been working for the Bratva, and within that short period of time, he had managed to quickly go up the ranks and become one of their most trusted Kapitans. 

In truth it was mostly a front. He didn’t agree with most things the Bratva did. He fought against their injustice and cruelty as much as anyone could. He even alerted the police secretly if there was something that he thought he couldn’t handle by himself. 

A few days ago, he had returned to Starling City for Bratva business, but he would be a liar if he were to say that the fact that Felicity lived in Starling wasn’t the reason why he had accepted the job. 

Since his return, he had been using his Bratva resources to keep an eye on her and on ARGUS. He had even set up spies at ARGUS, and through them, had managed to acquire classified documents -- which he had previously failed to obtain -- from their headquarters. 

So when one of those informants working undercover at ARGUS had notified Oliver that Felicity hadn’t shown up to work today, he had panicked. To his knowledge, she very rarely skipped work, unless she was sick. 

He had wanted to see her right then. He was about to drop everything he had been doing and just go see her somehow, but an unexpected shootout between the Bratva and the Italian Mafia had taken place in front of Anatoli’s American residence, and had prevented him from doing so. 

It was around seven in the evening when he had gotten a chance to go and see Felicity. He knew the risks, but he still couldn’t stop himself. Especially since he had a Valentine’s day gift to give her.

* * *

  _After tranquilizing the four ARGUS agents that had been surveilling Felicity’s house, he had snuck into her bedroom through the window. She had been sleeping, cuddling a pillow just as she used to cuddle her favorite doll._

 _A strange sense of warmth had spread through every part of his body at the sight._  

 _He would have loved it if there had been more light in her room, so he could see her face better. He probably would have turned the light on if he hadn’t been so worried about disrupting her sleep._ _Because by the look of things, it had seemed as if she truly needed the rest. The melting bowl of ice cream and the half empty wine glass that had been on her night stand had let him know exactly why she hadn’t shown up at work that day._  

 _He had laughed to himself remembering how she used to raid the ARGUS refrigerator for chocolate chip mint ice cream._  

 _As memories flooded his mind, the urge to touch her had overwhelmed him. The last time he had touched her had been when he was about to escape ARGUS. She had been crying and he had pulled her close and placed a kiss on her forehead._  

 _No matter how much he had wanted to brush those few strands of hair away from her face at that moment, kiss her forehead again tonight, he hadn’t. If he had, it would have complicated things more. So, he had just changed the ringtone on her phone and quietly hidden her gift under her bed just as he had been planning._  

 _And then he had left without turning back._  

_If he had, he knew he wouldn’t have been able to ever leave her._


	3. February 29th, 2016

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone thanks for all the love. I'm so happy that all of you're enjoying this story. Thanks for all the Kudos and comments. 
> 
> The chapter is long, hope you don't get bored.
> 
> Thanks to the amazing The-Nerd-Princess for going over this chapter and helping me.  
> Thanks to AlmondBlossom for being awesome and encouraging me always.  
> And thanks to VictoriaOlicity for the poster.

 

**_February 29th 2016_ **

 

Felicity changed into her sleepwear, and slipped under the covers of her lonely queen-sized bed, her phone clutched firmly in one hand, and fixing her glasses with the other.

She then continued to do what she had been doing for the last couple of hours, ever since she had returned home; staring at display of her phone. She was desperate to hear it ring, desperate to hear Oliver’s voice on the other end of the line.

But it didn’t even make a beep.

The more she waited for him to call, the more nervous she became.

It had been another rough day at work. ARGUS had almost caught Oliver tonight, and it had been one of Felicity’s facial recognition programs that had helped them track him down.

Usually, when one of her programs did its job right, she would celebrate by pumping her fist up in the air. But not this time. She couldn’t count it as a win. In fact, she hated herself for ever creating such an efficient algorithm that managed to recognize Oliver simply from a few blurry CCTV images.

It had been around midday when one of her computers had beeped, alarming everyone in the room that it had found their target. And Felicity could do nothing but cuss herself under her breath for not being vigilant enough to stop the alarm from going off.

The program had spotted Oliver entering a popular club named ‘Verdant’. With him had been a man named Anatoly, a member of the Russian brotherhood, wanted in 8 countries. From what she could gather, it seemed as if Oliver was doing business with the Bratva.

She didn’t know what to think of it really. She just hoped that Oliver knew what he was doing.

But while she had internally panicked over Oliver’s possible connection to Bratva and his whereabouts being exposed, Laurel, on the other hand, hadn’t wasted a second before taking a 12-person squad of ARGUS agents to catch him.

A couple of agents and a few innocent civilians had gotten injured in their pursuit of the runaway genius. Yet, as always, Oliver had slipped through all their webs, much to Laurel’s frustrations. But this time, they had found traces of Oliver’s blood at the scene.

Thus, from the moment Laurel had so victoriously claimed that it was her gun that managed to hurt Oliver, Felicity had been a nervous wreck.

She had wanted to come home right then and just wait for Oliver’s nightly phone call. However, ARGUS hadn’t let her leave until she had given them a comprehensive report on what had happened today. It was as if they knew how badly she wanted to go home, and they were keeping her there just to torture her.

She hated ARGUS! She hated that she had to pretend that she was alright with what they were doing. She hated that she had to work for them at all. But she had no choice. She couldn’t just pack up and leave. She didn’t know how to survive in the outside world by herself. ARGUS was all she had ever known. She wasn’t sure she would be able to live like Oliver or fight for her freedom like him. She wasn’t sure she was made for a life like that —  to spend her days and nights running from ARGUS without actually living it.

Then again, she wasn’t really living now either. Her life probably wasn’t that different from his.

She wasn’t running from ARGUS, but neither was she free from them. She had to report to them every morning and night to let them know where she was, or else they would most probably put her back in one of those rooms she had grown up in, or they would put her through one of those experimental simulation programs to mentally torture her.

She realized that one day, she could probably die at one of those glass cubicles at ARGUS, and other than a handful of people, no one would even know that she ever existed.

So, what if...

What if she were to run away like Oliver had done?

Would she be able to have some sort of a normal life?

But what would happen to Oliver if she were to leave ARGUS?

They would no doubt hire another IT specialist, one who would not be so kind as to overlook the very few tracks Oliver sometimes accidentally left behind. They would not wait two hours like she did to let ARGUS agents know they had found Oliver — just so he had enough time to escape.

Should she then join Oliver? Together they would be stronger than apart, wouldn’t they? They had always made a great team.

No!

He hadn’t wanted her to join him then. Why would he let her join him now?

She took the remote from under her pillow and turned the TV on just because she wanted some kind of noise to block out all the thoughts running through her mind.

But it wasn’t working. Her thoughts kept going back to him. She kept imagining him shot and bleeding in an alley somewhere.

She tossed her glasses aside and screwed her eyes shut as though to force the images of his bleeding body out of her head.

The horrible images slowly disappeared, but they were replaced by snippets of their childhood; some moments she would never want to forget, and some she wished had never happened.

* * *

 

_She remembered that morning in the study room, where he had secretly slipped a little piece of paper into her hand._

I’m going to run away tomorrow night, _the note had said._

_She had stared at it for more than a couple of seconds, at a loss for words._

_Then, when she had eventually looked up at him — with her brow furrowed and squishing his note in her palm — he had slipped another piece of paper into her hand._

I want to know who my parents are. I want to know why they are doing all these experiments on us. I want to be able to make choices for myself. I want to be free. _She had read the note over and over again. Something about his reasons for leaving didn’t feel right. It felt as if he was hiding something from her. But why would he not tell her the truth? What other reason could there be ?_

_Sure, they both had talked and wondered about what the outside world could be like, and what sort of people their parents could be, but she had never thought Oliver would all of a sudden decide to leave._

_Ever since ARGUS had assigned Malcolm Merlyn as their handler — after Walter was mysteriously found dead in his office — things just hadn’t been the same. More experiments were done on them than ever before. More often than not Felicity had found herself waking up on a med table without remembering how she had gotten there.The things Malcolm Merlyn had them designing had the potential to not just destroy cities, but countries._

_He was a cold, vicious man._

_Even though Walter too had followed ARGUS orders, he had also known what their limits were. He had understood that they were children and they were still human._

_Walter had been more of a mentor to them than a handler. He had been more of a teacher than a mere scientist in charge of a project.  And Felicity had a difficult time coping with his death. If it weren’t for Oliver’s embrace, his calming presence and reassurance, she would have taken a long time to recover from the loss._

_Oliver had always been her pillar of strength whenever she had felt like her world was crumbling beneath her. But more than anything, she was head over heels in love with him. So a life without Oliver wasn’t something she had wanted to even imagine._

_She had quickly scribbled a note of her own, and had passed it to him under the study table, making sure that the security cameras couldn’t catch their exchange._

I’m coming with, _she had simply written._

“ _No!” Oliver had growled at her before writing another note._

I’m going alone, _it had said._

What about Laurel? _She had handed him another secret note._

I’m going to tell her tonight. She’s not coming with me either. She likes it here. She wants to be an agent one day, _he had explained in his last note._

_She had so many things to say to him, to ask him, but it hadn’t been safe to talk with all the cameras and guards around. So, she had kept her worries and thoughts to herself._

_Yet, by night time, her heart kept aching for him, kept telling her to go to him and just talk to him. Unfortunately, it hadn’t been something she was allowed to do. After Malcolm Merlyn had taken over the reins, they were prohibited from meeting each other in their rooms after 6pm. Their rooms were locked after 11pm and their doors were opened again only at 6am the next morning. So, however much she wanted to go over to his room, and sleep enveloped in his arms for one last time —  just as they used to do when they were small —  she couldn’t._

_The next night, Oliver ran away as he had intended, kissing her forehead right before he crawled out through the vent. However, it hadn't been an easy escape as either of them had hoped it would be. Malcolm Merlyn had somehow caught wind of Oliver’s plan and  had tightened the security of the building that night.  If it weren’t for the diversion Felicity had created by setting off the alarm at ARGUS archives, Oliver probably would have either been caught or wouldn’t have been able to leave unscathed._

_Felicity had her suspicions as to who might have tipped him off. There was only one person who had known about the escape plan beside Oliver and herself; Laurel. But Felicity hadn’t managed to find any solid proof against her, nor had she been able to understand why Laurel, of all people — the girl he loved and his first kiss  — would betray him._

* * *

 

The phone ringing in her hand drew her out of her musings.

She answered it the moment she saw the words ‘Unknown Caller’ flashing on the display.

 _“Felicity?”_   

Relief washed over her at the sound of Oliver’s voice. “Oliver! Are you ok? Are you hurt? They said they found your blood and I couldn’t— ” She couldn’t hold her tears in any longer. She had kept them locked in long enough. There was no reason to hide how terrified she was anymore. So she just let them fall.

“ _Shh… shh… Felicity, it’s ok. I’m alright. I’m ok,_ ” he reassured, his voice cool and calming.

“Stop lying! They said there was a lot of blood!” She yelled amidst her cries.

_“It’s nothing, Felicity. Just a flesh wound.”_

His words managed to calm her a little bit, but her tears didn’t stop flowing. “You promise, you would go to the hospital, if it _was_ something?” she asked, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand.

_“I promise.”_

“Idiot!” She sniffled.

“ _What_ ? _Why?_ ”

“Idiot! Why would you think it’s a good idea to join the Bratva? Why would you think it’s a good idea to stay in Starling City? Do you have any idea how many CCTV cameras in Starling City they have me monitoring? Do you even understand what I have to do to make sure they don’t find you easily? If someone ever suspects me even a little they will reassign me or put me back in one of those cells…or… or maybe worse… And then things will get more complicated for you. Do you understand what I’m saying?” She told him in her loud voice.

_“It’s alright. Do whatever you have to do. Don’t worry about me... I understand.”_

“No, you don’t, Oliver. No, you don’t! You don’t understand anything! You don’t even understand why I’m saying what I’m saying. You don’t understand how confusing all of this is for me. You don’t understand how hard it is for me to work here. To pretend like I want them to catch you, pretend like I’m not scared every time they shoot at you!” When she had heard the guns go off through the coms earlier today, she had bitten down on her lip so hard it had started to bleed. Her throat had gone dry and her fingers had shaken against the keyboard uncontrollably. Thankfully, everyone else had seemed too focused on catching Oliver to notice her reaction.

_“Felicity…”_

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, Oliver. I feel like whatever I’m doing isn’t enough. I feel like I’m failing you.” For five years she had set her mind on keeping Oliver safe. That had been what had given her hope, had helped her wake up in the morning, get dressed and sit in front of her computer at ARGUS. If something were to happen to him, if she failed to protect him, she didn’t know if she would ever be able to forgive herself.

_“You could never fail me, Felicity. Don’t ever think that. Everything will be all right soon. I’m sorry you have to go through this because of me.”_

“I would do anything for you, Oliver. It’s just that—” She choked. “I just don’t want you to die. I don’t want to lose you more than I already have.” She kept the phone glued to her ear as she turned to her side and brought her knees up to her chest. She just wanted all of this to be over soon, so that she could see him again, hug him again.

“Oliver?” She called out, realizing he had been silent for awhile.

 _“I’m here._ ” His voice was laced with concern. “ _Just rest. Sleep. You’ll feel better tomorrow.”_ She wanted to believe him. She wanted to have hope. She wanted tomorrow to be better than today. She wanted to see a tomorrow where they were together.  

 _“Everything’s going to be ok._ ” Listening to his soothing voice, she closed her eyes.

 _“Happy birthday, Felicity.”_ She thought she heard him whisper just as she drifted off into a sleep — one  filled with dreams and memories of him.

* * *

“ _Happy eighth birthday, Felicity!” Felicity had been sleeping, snuggling Molly, when Oliver had snuck into her room, and had started jumping up and down on her bed._

“ _Oliver!” She had woken up startled, Molly falling from her hands._

“ _Hap-py bir-th-day Fe-li-ci-ty!!” The higher and the faster he had jumped, the harder it had been for him to speak, but he had continued to do it anyway. He was twelve then, but he still acted as if he was her age._

“ _Where’s my present?” Scratching her messy blonde hair, she had gotten out of bed. For the past three weeks Oliver had been bragging nonstop about how he was going to give her the most beautiful birthday gift anyone had ever given her. So she had been very curious about this gift of his for days._

“ _Come on, let’s go! It’s in the study room,” he had said, jumping off the bed._

_“Wait! Molly should see it too!” Grabbing her rag doll from the floor, she had run after her very excited friend._

_“Tada! Do you like it?” he had asked, standing tall and proud in front of the gift he had made for her._

_“A Rube Goldberg machine?” she had asked, skipping around the contraption happily._

_A few months before, they had been asked to make Rube Goldberg Machines as an exercise. All three of them had been excellent at it. Felicity, being the youngest, had found it a little difficult to align the objects quickly because her hands hadn’t been as steady as Oliver’s or Laurel’s. But hers had been just as creative as theirs. However, none of what they all had made that day had been as large or as complicated as the one Oliver had made for her on her birthday._

“ _So, do you like it? I know your birthday comes once every four years... So... I was up all night making it,” Oliver had confessed, smiling proudly._

_His sweet gesture had warmed her tiny heart. Standing on her tiptoes, she had given him a kiss on his cheek. Felicity had never forgotten how his cheeks had dimpled and turned red as he flashed her a dopey grin._

_After that morning, for quite a few years, she had often enjoyed kissing his cheek and watching them flush and dimple._

“ _Felicity_ ! _Push that book over there to start it!”_

_At Oliver’s very enthusiastic instruction she had pushed the large geography book on the shelf next to her, setting off the Rube Goldberg machine. She had watched the chain reaction in awe. Every little card, toy, ball and book had been so meticulously placed that it had all worked without a hitch. The sounds elicited by objects making contact with others created a familiar tune. It took her a while to realize the tune that was playing was actually the ‘Happy Birthday Song’._

“ _You are the bestest of the bestest, Oliver!” She had hugged him tightly, accidentally crushing poor Molly between them._

_“Thank you.”_

_Once she had pulled away from the hug, he had leaned closer and kissed her forehead._

_A warm fuzzy feeling had overcome her and she had begun to babble nonsensically about Rube Goldberg machines, nervously fiddling with the big bright pink bows on her jammies._

_He had watched her for a while, half a smile on his face. “Felicity,” he had said, putting his hand on her shoulder, and her babbles had just stopped._

_They both had then started to giggle like idiots, as if they shared a happy little secret no one else knew. But truth be told, they hadn’t a clue what it had been either._

“ _That’s_ c _ute.” Laurel’s snarky voice that had come from behind had pulled Oliver and her out of their dream world._

_Laurel had always done that, Felicity realized. She had been the one that had always reminded Felicity that anything between Oliver and her could only be a dream._

* * *

 

However, it was the feeling of a presence lingering about her bedroom that dragged her out from her dreams this time.

It took her eyes a few seconds to adjust to being awake, but when they did, she caught a fairly large man standing in front of the TV with his back turned to her.

Her ARGUS training kicked in. She quietly rolled out of bed and grabbed her gun from the night stand. “Don’t move!” She warned as she aimed her gun at the intruder’s head.

She wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard him chuckle as he put his hands up. “Felicity, you and I both know even with all your training, you are still a poor shot. Especially, if you’re not wearing your glasses.”

Right then, as if on cue, fake laughter erupted from her TV when a character on the sitcom that was playing fell into a puddle of mud.

“O-Oliver?” His voice was somehow deeper than the voice she had listened to every night for the past three years through her phone. But she knew it was him in her soul. She just couldn’t believe it.

“I just came to drop your gift off. I wasn’t really expecting for you to… catch me.” He slowly turned around to face her. The light coming from the TV behind him concealed his face while creating a bluish glow around him.

She stood frozen, staring at him with her gun still pointed in his direction. “You… what… how— ”The gun threatened to fall off from her shaky hands as she watched him step towards her.

“Felicity…” Her heart sped up at the way he uttered her name.

She blinked just to make sure she wasn’t still dreaming.

Nope, she wasn’t dreaming. He was still there when she opened her eyes.

“Are you ok?” he asked, stepping out from the shadows.

Her brain somehow managed to mute out the sounds coming from the TV and focus solely on the sound of his heavy, certain steps that approached her.

The closer he got, the easier it became for her to make out his features. He was wearing all black, from his leather jacket to his boots. He didn’t look like the innocent boy she remembered. The scruff, the chiseled jaw, they hadn’t been there five years ago, and the CCTV footage had neither caught the sadness in his eyes, nor the worried lines on his brow. But in his eyes she could still see the seven-year-old boy who had asked Walter if she was an angel. She could see that same boy who had given her the bracelet that she had been wearing around her wrist everyday for the past decade.

He stopped a little less than an arm’s length away from her. “I think you can put your gun down now.”

Her fingers tingled when he placed his large gloved hands over hers and made her lower her gun. “Oliver…” That was all she could muster.

He touched a lock of her hair very much the same way he had done when they first met. “You still look like an angel to me.” He tucked her hair behind her ear and stepped even closer to her.

A tear rolled down her cheek as memories flooded her mind.

With his eyes still trained on hers, he carefully took the gun from her hands, his fingers skimming over hers. Even though his hands were gloved, the contact still sent a shiver down her spine and she bit on the inside of her cheek to keep herself from moaning out loud.

“I'm happy we didn’t really have to wait until you’re 84 to meet again.” He switched on the safety lock on the gun with a click, and threw it haphazardly over his shoulder.

“I've missed you so much Felicity. Sometimes I wish I'd never left,” he said as he wiped her tear away with his thumb.

“Idiot!” She finally let go of the breath she had been holding in all this while and collapsed into his chest, wrapping her arms around his hard body. “I thought I lost you tonight.” Tears began to fall endlessly the moment he banded his strong arms around her.“Shh... Shh... It's ok.” He kissed the top of her head, rubbing  smooth circles on her back.

“I thought I lost you, Oliver. I thought you were gone.” She sobbed into his chest, melting further into him.

“It’s ok. I’m ok,” he muttered into her hair, and she finally began to relax.

She had so many things to tell him. But right then, she just wanted to quietly stay here, enveloped in his arms forever, and nothing more. Since there was no telling how long this moment would last or if there would ever be another time, she let herself truly relish the moment, closing her eyes and letting her other senses take over.

She felt his muscles ripple against her whenever she would even shift the slightest, and she realized that his body had changed a lot over the years.  She most definitely couldn’t remember those back muscles being so defined, she thought as she let her hands freely roam over his back.

Then it hit her how little she was wearing; a loose tank top where one strap would always fall over her shoulder, a pair of pajama pants with pictures of cupcakes on them, and no panty or bra! Oh no! She suddenly realized how she had her breasts so shamelessly pushed straight up against his chest — his _very_ hard chest. And his length. Oh! She could feel it, or was it just all in her head?

She quivered slightly. Why was she doing this to herself? This was a platonic hug. Things had always been platonic between them. Hadn’t they?

But she couldn’t stop wondering whether he had ever felt what she was feeling? Did he feel anything now? Could he feel her nipples hardening as his breath grazed her shoulder? Could he feel the wetness building between her legs through her flannel pants?

Her mind was going into very dangerous places and she knew it wasn’t the right time to do so. She felt as if she should pull away, but she didn’t want to.  He was finally here and she didn’t want to let go. Especially when he smelled the way he did; minty, musky, and something which was uniquely him.  And however much their bodies had changed, however much time had changed them, however much they had grown, it didn’t feel unfamiliar — the hug didn’t feel wrong. She felt like she still knew him and she would like to think he did too.

With a sigh, he pulled back a little and cupped her cheeks.

Oh, how badly she wished he had taken those gloves off.

“I have to go now. I’m sorry,” he said, but his striking blue eyes that bore into hers betrayed his words. He looked as if he didn’t want to leave as much as she didn’t want him to go. Nonetheless, she knew that the longer he stayed, the higher the chances were for ARGUS to somehow find out about this little rendezvous.

“I know you have to... “ She brought her arms up and covered his hands with hers and smiled at him playfully. “But what about my present?” Her voice came out as a whisper as she let her hands slowly wander along his arms.

“Ah!” He hissed in pain when her hand grazed his right shoulder.

“Oh no! What did I do? Is that... Is that where you were shot? Did you get it looked at? I thought you said it was nothing? I mean if it was something big I know you wouldn’t be standing here… right?”

For a few seconds, he just watched her with a dumb smile on his face as if he was enjoying her panicked ramble.

“Felicity.” He put his hand on her shoulder and, as it always did, her ramble came to a stop. “It _is_ nothing.” He gave her a little nod to reassure her.

“You can’t get yourself hurt or shot again ok? Or I’ll be really pissed.” She tried to sound threatening, but she knew she must have come off sounding like a six year old demanding him to make unrealistic promises.

“Ok.” He let out a breathy chuckle, before pulling her face closer and kissing her forehead. The mere contact of his lips on her forehead made her stomach swoop with excitement, and she once again banded her arms around his waist.

“That was one of the two things I came to give you for your birthday tonight.” He told her, lifting her face so that she was staring up into his eyes.

“Oh?” Now that he had given his first gift — a forehead kiss — she waited for him to let go of her face and move back a step, but he didn’t.

“Yeah.”

“So… uhm… you were just going to do that while I was sleeping? What if I’d woken up and actually shot you?” That would have been horrible. Sure, she hadn’t hurt a fly with her gun even though she had the training and of course, she would have thought twice before ever really pulling that trigger. But, what if she had?

“You were upset and I had to come see you to make sure you were ok. I didn’t really think about that part.”

“Oh?” He had always hated seeing her cry, even when they were young. He had always been concerned over her wellbeing. So she couldn’t understand what was so special about him sneaking into her room tonight to check up on her that had her heart skipping a few beats.

“Hmm...mmm...”

“Then, the second gift?” She asked softly.

“Hmm?” He seemed too caught up in some kind of daze to answer her.  

“Oliver?” Maybe she was imagining things, or maybe the floor was tilting because it looked as if Oliver’s head was leaning towards her.

She gulped when she saw his eyes fall to her lips.

Was her mind playing tricks on her?

Thinking that he would disappear like some sort of mirage, she held on to him tightly, fingers digging into his back.

“Felicity.” He licked his lips and she unconsciously mimicked the action.

Was what she was thinking was going to happen truly going to happen? Was this truly not just a platonic embrace between two long lost friends?

His intense gaze didn’t resemble anything close to platonic. Not that she had much experience with non platonic exchanges to tell the difference. She’d spend most of her life in a glass chamber with no contact with the outside world, and the one man she had felt non-platonic feelings for had been away for five years.

But, he was here now, standing in front of her, his face little more than a hair’s breadth away from hers.

She closed her eyes in anticipation.

His scent overwhelmed her. The warmth emanating from him made her stand on her tiptoes and she felt her body gravitate towards him as if he was the the sun.

She heard his breaths become as fast as hers. She felt her heart thud hard and fast in her chest.

Her lips parted and her cheeks burned scorching hot as he caressed them with his thumbs.

What did this mean? Had he fallen out of love with Laurel? Was falling out of love even a thing? Or was he just a lonely man seeking solace in someone familiar and comfortable?

“Felicity.” The way he mumbled her four-syllable name convinced her to stop over-analyzing the situation. It convinced her to just live in the moment.

“Oliver.” She let go of her insecurities, let go of her doubts and just pushed her hips closer to his.

She heard him grunt, just as their hips made contact. The sound sent a jolt of electricity through her body and she pressed her thighs together to suppress her need to press her lower body harder against him.

She heard him swallow hard, and it amazed her how attuned she was to his every action, as though they were two parts of the same soul.

And then, just when she dared to think how perfect this moment felt, the sound of her doorbell ringing followed by a loud bang against her door brought everything to a screeching halt.

“You have to leave! Now!” Her eyes snapped opened.

“Felicity… I...” He seemed reluctant to let her go, and he held her face even tighter, as if he hadn’t heard what she had said or wasn’t hearing the continuous banging on her door.

“Felicity! Open this fucking door right now or I’m going to break it down!” It was Laurel. It was almost always Laurel that woke her up from her fantasy world.

“Oliver, you need to go before the whole of ARGUS gets here!” She put her hand on his chest and pushed him away slightly, forcing him to wake up from his daze and face reality.

“Felicity there’s something—”

“Oliver, just go!” She whispered, afraid that Laurel would hear them.

He nodded, finally accepting that there was not much time left.  

She followed him as he ran over to the window and crawled outside. “Take care, Felicity.” He reached out to her through the window and moved a stray strand of hair away from her face. “Next time we meet, I hope you won’t forget your promise and you’ll wear the dress I gave you.” He winked.

“Oh, no! I’m so sorry.” There was no time for this conversation, at any time soon Laurel was going to lose her patience and she was going break down the door.  But the time in their world seemed to work differently, at least that was what it felt like.

He smiled at her, “It’s ok. It gives me one more thing to look forward to.” He took something out of his pocket and placed it in her palm. “Your second gift. For your bracelet. It means safety and protection.”

Felicity didn’t even have the time to open her palm and see what it was, because she heard Laurel kick the front door down.

“Go!” Sounds of ARGUS vehicles coming down the streets made her sweat. She couldn’t let them catch him. They would hurt him, torture him.

The look of helplessness, the reluctance he bore on his face as he stepped away from the window would never leave her. “Felicity…”

She didn’t want to, but she had to close the window. “Go!” she mouthed from the other side.

He grudgingly turned around and ran off into the darkness.

When she finally looked down at what he had placed on her hand, she found a small arrow-shaped charm on her palm.

“Where is he?” In came Laurel, flinging her bedroom door open, her gun ready and her ever-immaculate makeup and dark lipstick in place.

“Who?” Felicity feigned innocence as she closed her hand to hide the arrow charm from Laurel’s eyes.

“Stop! You don’t fool me. While I was on my way home, I found one of the agents in charge of this area unconscious. This is the second time this has happened. Care to explain how?”

“How should I know? I mean you’re the one who’s in charge of them, right? I would think that it’s your job to know what happened to them.” Felicity stood with her arms folded in front of her chest.

“Sassy…  And to think that like for a microsecond, I was worried that someone had broken into your house to hurt you.” Laurel scanned the room, checked her bathroom and peeped through the  window.

“Satisfied?” Felicity followed Laurel as she made her way back to the middle of the room, hoping she wouldn’t spot her 9mm lying on top of her laundry basket.

“I know he’s been contacting you. I just need to find out how.”

“You’re delusional.” Felicity rolled her eyes as Laurel grabbed her phone from her bed, “That’s personal property, you know? But, go ahead, I have nothing to hide.” She wouldn’t be a genius if she hadn’t already created an almost invisible code that would instantly recognize Oliver’s voice and automatically erase any and all traces of his calls from her phone, and the mobile network itself.

“It’s ARGUS property. Everything you use, and _you,_ belong to ARGUS.” Reminding Felicity of her cruel reality, Laurel slipped her phone into one of the pockets in her trench coat.

“I gave you permission to go through the phone, not to confiscate it. You’re not my boss!”

“I’m your boss when it comes to this mission.”

Laurel wasn’t exactly wrong. Malcolm Merlyn had given Laurel the authorization to do whatever that was necessary to catch Oliver. So she guessed Laurel’s jurisdiction extended to seizing any personal belongings from anyone whenever she deemed necessary.

“But before I go, let me remind you of something, Felicity.” Laurel stepped closer to her — close enough for Felicity to smell the alcohol on her breath. For the past year or so, Felicity had started to notice that Laurel usually smelled like Bourbon no matter what time of the day it was. The brunette might not show it, she might put up a tough exterior and she might be the best agent ARGUS had ever had, but it was obvious that her lifestyle was taking a toll on her. She looked pale and a little older than her age. She didn’t look like the innocent beauty she once was.

“Oliver might come to you for help because he knows I’m not stupid enough to help him…. He might give you these little things to make you think he cares about you.” Laurel stuck her little finger through Felicity’s decade-old bracelet and pulled it up, bringing her arm up along with it. “But he will always  be in love with me,” Laurel reiterated what she had been telling Felicity for almost five years. Yet those words still stung Felicity the same as it did the first day.

She was gripping the arrow charm so tightly that she felt its sharp edges cut into her palm. She knew Oliver wasn’t using her. She trusted him. He was the only person in the world she trusted and she hated that Laurel was trying to convince her that he was manipulating her. “You are wrong! He might have loved you when we were young, but why would he still love someone whose mission in life is to bring him back to the same place he ran away from? Why would he love someone who wouldn’t think twice about shooting him?”

“Because you don’t choose who you fall in love with, Felicity. It just happens... Sometimes the person who you fall in love with is the same person you’re running away from. Sometimes the person you fall in love with doesn’t love you back the way you want them to… Sometimes the person you are in love with loves someone else… And yet, you still continue to love them.” Something akin to regret crossed Laurel’s face, but she turned her back to Felicity before she could truly understand what it was.

“I’m guessing you’re familiar with the last two concepts? Being in love with a man that loves someone else?” Laurel pointed out to her before walking out of her room.

Yes, Laurel was right. Felicity was all too familiar with the concept.

* * *

 

_“Oliver told me he’s in love with me before he escaped.”_

_Felicity had been sitting in her usual chair in the study room, thinking about what Oliver could be doing right then, when Laurel had sat next to her and had confessed. “He told me he’s going to come back for me. He said he’s doing this for me. For our future,” Laurel had added with a smile._

_Her declaration had hurt Felicity very deeply. Although what Laurel had said somewhat contradicted what Oliver had told her, Felicity thought that this could be what he had hidden from her on that morning in the study room._

_“I’m happy for you… Both of you.” She had said sincerely, even if it had felt as if someone had shattered her heart into a million pieces._

* * *

 

Oliver jumped over a fence, climbed onto a rooftop, and then jumped back down to the street where he had left his Ducati — behind a dumpster, a few blocks away from Felicity’s house.

He hopped on the bike quickly and sped away, wondering if he was doing the right thing.

If Felicity hadn’t forced him to go, he just might not have left her like he had done.

Though ARGUS probably had guessed it was him who had knocked out the four agents that had been camping outside Felicity’s house, he knew they had no way of proving it. He had disabled all the security cameras before even setting foot into the area, and had made sure to leave no fingerprints. So it was very unlikely they knew with 100% certainty that he was the intruder. Thus, he hoped the lack of evidence would work in Felicity’s favor and they wouldn’t be able to actually reprimand her for aiding him.

He knew ARGUS would never dare to physically hurt Felicity since they considered her one of their most valuable assets. That said, they had their own strange ways of punishing their geniuses; with complex mind games and simulations a person with an average IQ would never be able to handle without losing their minds. That had been one of the reasons why he had actually considered giving himself up when he had heard Laurel threatening to break the door down. He had no doubt that Felicity could cope with any sort of mind games they might put her through, better than even himself. But still, he would have rather let ARGUS torture him for running away than let Felicity be hurt because she was helping him.

Also, the thought of going back to ARGUS where he could meet Felicity everyday had been tempting. Extremely tempting. The idea that he wouldn’t have to wait until it was evening just to hear her voice had been alluring enough to make him surrender without a fight. But when he had caught a glimpse of Felicity’s innocent blue eyes as she urged him to go, he remembered why he had been on the run for five years. He remembered why he had left that horrible situation in the first place; for her, for them, for their future. 

And tonight being able to talk to her face to face, being able to finally see the beautiful woman she had grown into, being able to actually touch her, hold her and feel her curves against his body, had given him a new verve, a new incentive to fight harder for that future.

He didn’t think it was possible for him to fall more in love with her, but it had happened tonight. Every time she had smiled, cried, yelled, babbled, blinked or even breathed, he had fallen that much more in love with her.

He just wished Laurel had waited for another two minutes before kicking that door down. That would have been enough time for him to finally kiss Felicity and say goodbye to her properly.

Even though he was absolutely livid with Laurel for banging on the door when she had, he knew that in a way it was Laurel’s impatience that had helped him get out of there without getting hurt. If she hadn’t banged on that door without a plan and had in fact waited for backup to reach Felicity’s place, he definitely wouldn’t have been able escape without using his gun.

Oliver looked back at the sound of vehicles speeding through the street behind him.

They were heading his way.

He pulled back on the throttle to raise the speed to the maximum and soared through the calm, sleeping town until he couldn’t hear the other vehicles anymore.


	4. March 28th 2016

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the wait!  
> ************************************************************************************  
> Huge thatnks to my Beta The-nerd-princess for all the hard work  
> ************************************************************************************  
> Also I used Google translater for the Russian
> 
> There are few surprises in the chapter. I'm eager and anxious to know what you thought of them.

**_March 28th, 2016_ **

 Last time ARGUS let Felicity travel with them outside of Starling City had been four years ago. They had found out that Oliver was in Central City and they had needed her expertise to track him down. But when they had gotten to Central City, he had already fled just as Felicity had hoped.

This time around too, their reason for taking her out of Starling had been no different. Oliver was supposedly handling some business for the Bratva in Hub City, and Felicity’s help was required to find his exact location without alerting the brotherhood.

However, Felicity had other plans. Very important plans.

In order to execute these plans of hers, she had sent Laurel and her team to a bogus location on the other end of Hub City. Furthermore, she had set the security cameras in her hotel room to play on a loop, so it looked like she was sitting by her laptop, monitoring Laurel’s whereabouts, and not planning to do something very dangerous.

She now only needed her laptop to alert her when Laurel was half way across town so she could take the first step listed in her plan. According to the speed at which the tracker on Laurel’s phone was moving, she estimated it would take at least another ten minutes for Laurel to get to where she wanted her to be. That meant she had ten more minutes to reconsider what she was about to do.

After Oliver was almost caught on her birthday, ARGUS hadn’t allowed her to use any communication devices without their supervision. They even had an agent working at ARGUS headquarters remotely monitoring the activities on her laptop to make sure she wasn’t doing anything to sabotage their mission. She knew they would have never even taken the risk of giving her a laptop if they had time to find and appoint someone else as capable as her that could trace a genius like Oliver.

Luckily, she knew ways to send false data and screen images to the person monitoring her laptop, thus allowing her to do what she wanted without anyone noticing.

Yet, no matter how careful she was, she knew there was still a chance for everything to go wrong. They could still find out what she was up to and put her in a cell, or they could once again put her through those mentally exhausting tests she had had to face for the last four weeks.

Even thinking of those tests made her whole body shiver. She truly didn’t want to go through that experience again anytime in the near future.

Wrapping her arms around herself, she paced about the room nervously.

The conversation taking place behind her door — between the two new ARGUS agents standing guard outside her room — made her roll her eyes. They had been bragging about their workout routines for what seemed like hours. They had actually been so absorbed in their conversation, they hadn’t even noticed when Felicity had padded her way up to the door and locked it from her side.

Malcolm Merlyn had only given Laurel a small unit of six agents for the mission this time around. He had wanted them to enter and leave Hub City discreetly, and that had worked out in Felicity's favor.

Malcolm’s decision had left Laurel with no choice but to take the more experienced agents to catch Oliver, and leave the duty of guarding her to these two self-absorbed rookies that had little to no knowledge in IT. Felicity probably would have been able to openly check on Oliver's actual location even if the two rookie agents had been standing behind her observing what she was doing.

In fact, at the beginning of the night, they had hung about her room for a while, checking her laptop screen every other minute before eventually getting bored and leaving the room. There was no question they thought that there was no way the little blonde IT girl was going to escape all by herself.

“Ha!” She laughed mockingly at the two guards for underestimating her. She might not be the best fighter around, but she had enough training and intelligence to fight them and easily escape if it was necessary.

She had noticed these two agents to be the laziest of the bunch, and she believed they probably wouldn’t even check on her again unless someone ordered them to. Still, there was no guarantee that they wouldn't check again. There was always a risk, but she had no choice. She had to take a chance.

Determined to go through with her plans more than ever, she walked over to the window.

Her room at Hub City Grand was on the 8th floor. She figured it had to have been Laurel’s idea to give her a room so high up in the hotel. Laurel knew that she was afraid of heights, and it was probably her way of making sure she wouldn’t try to escape through the window — the only other exit point beside the main door.

Though her legs felt a little wobbly, and her head felt a little lighter whenever her eyes strayed to the streets below, she was still able to enjoy the brilliant view she had of the city landscape. Hub City seemed to have a completely different vibe to Starling — busier nightlife, but older architecture. As a matter of fact, Hub City Tower was the most prominent and modern building she could see from where she was standing.

Her eyes caught a glimpse of a bird taking flight across the street, and as it disappeared into the night, her attention drifted to the dark clouds above.

She was disappointed to see the clouds veiling the stars tonight. Even as a young girl she had found wonderment in the stars and the universe. But living under the concrete roof of ARGUS had meant that for the longest time, the only stars she had been allowed to see were the ones in books and the ones on computer screens. When they had finally let her live by herself, she had spent a couple of nights just staring at the stars, comparing it to her makeshift sky at ARGUS —  the one she had built when she was just 18 years old.

* * *

 

 _She had been very excited that night to show the sky she had designed to Oliver and Laurel._ “ _Lie down and look up at the ceiling!” she had shouted from behind her computer for the fourth time, and her friends had finally laid down in the middle of the study room._

“ _What the hell is going on?” Laurel was heard grumbling when Felicity had switched the lights off._

“ _Relax. I’m sure whatever Felicity’s surprise is, it’s going to be wonderful.” Oliver’s vote of confidence had brought a smile to Felicity’s face as she laid down next to him, fiddling with the remote controller in her hand._

“ _Behold!” She had pressed the power button on the remote and then there it was; their very own sky. It looked far better and real than just a simple 2D projection on the ceiling. She had designed it in a way that they could zoom into any of the stars and planets with ease using the special remote she had built._

“ _This is your big surprise? This is just a star projector!” Laurel had scoffed next to Oliver._

“ _I thought you guys might like it because we never really get to see stars.” She had worked hard to surprise them both, and it had been heartbreaking to hear Laurel simply ignore her efforts._

“ _I love it.” Oliver's eyes had sparkled, catching the light from the stars shining above them._

“ _Of course you do.” Laurel had stood up abruptly. “This is boring. I’m going back to my room.”  Laurel had walked off without even looking back at the two of them._

“ _Don’t worry about her, Felicity. You did something that neither one of us ever thought of doing, and probably wouldn’t have been able to do quite as well as you’ve done. She’s probably feeling a little… jealous.”_

She had found Oliver's explanation to be absurd. “ _Jealous? You think Laurel, Gorgeous Laurel, Perfect Laurel is jealous of me?”_ Why would Laurel be jealous just because she made a fake sky? There were many things Laurel could do that she wasn’t good at. Laurel could fight better than her, fire a gun better than her. She had good leadership skills, and she was beautiful. Moreover, she was the one Oliver loved.

“ _Felicity, she’s not—”_

“ _I know what you’re going to say. ‘Felicity, she’s not perfect. No one is’… I know that, Oliver! I know that no one is literally perfect. But, I can’t understand why she would be jealous of me…I mean—”_

“ _She’s jealous because you’re… you,” Oliver had said, moving a stray strand of hair away from her face._

“ _What is that supposed to mean?”_

_Oliver had simply shrugged, and turned his attention back to the stars._

_Pouting at him for not clarifying, she too had looked up at the fake sky._

_For a few moments, they had just laid quietly next to each other, their shoulders almost touching, and his knee grazing against hers from time to time. “Did you find all the constellations?” She had broken the silence._

“ _I did. All 88 of them… Plus that one!” He had drawn a circle in mid air, directing her eyes at a cluster of stars on her right._

 _The stars he had shown her didn’t belong to just one constellation. They half-belonged to Andromeda and half-belonged to Pegasus._ “ _That’s not really a constellation,” she had argued._

“ _It is!“ He had taken her hand and drawn two stick figures in the sky, connecting the stars together. “That’s me… And that’s you.”_

“ _Yeah?” She had believed him wholeheartedly. Honestly, if at that moment he had said that the world was flat, she would have believed him._

“ _Yeah.” He had slowly brought their hands down together, knotting his fingers with hers._

“ _If it’s a constellation, it should have a name.”_

“ _I want to call it 'Felicity'.” It was when he had squeezed her hand that she had realized he hadn’t yet let her hand go._

_If she had still been a naive 13-year-old girl, she probably would have given more meaning to his actions, to his words. But she wasn’t 13, or naive anymore. That said, she hadn’t been able to stop the warmth spreading through her cheeks, or the flutter that grew in her stomach at how firmly he was holding her hand. “No… Uhm... No that doesn’t sound constellation-y,” she had stuttered._

“ _You name it then!” He had pretended to be annoyed with her, and had let her hand go._

_She had taken her empty hand back, mentally kicking herself for not letting him name it whatever he wanted to name it just so she could have held on to his hand for a little while longer._

“ _So, what do you want to call it then?” he had prompted her again._

“ _Hmm… Alexandrea?” The name had just popped up in her head without any reason, but she had liked it._

“ _Alexandrea?”_

“ _You don’t like it?” She had turned her eyes back to him, pouting, but his eyes had been on the sky._

“ _I like it. But why? It doesn’t have anything to do with either one of us. It sounds like you just said the first name that popped into your head.”_

“ _Because it kind of sounds like Andromeda?” she had argued her case very poorly._

“ _Ok.” He had huffed out a laugh and let her have her way as he did most of the time. “Alexandrea it is then. I’m just glad that it wasn’t something like Bob.”_

“ _Do you have something against Bobs?”_

_She had slapped his arm playfully and he had yelled as if she had punched him hard in the stomach. “Ow!”_

“ _I mean what’s wrong with the name Bob? You know what? Maybe we really should call the constellation Bob.”_

“ _No! Alexandrea is better.” He had quickly waved his hand in protest. “Alexandrea is a beautiful name. If I ever have the chance to have a normal life, if I ever have a daughter, I think I’m going to call her Alexandrea just to commemorate this moment.”_

_She had laughed thinking Oliver was just mocking her for choosing a very random name, and had gone along with the joke. “Great idea. We can call her Alexa for short.”_

“ _Yes, we can…”_

“ _Maybe we could get Alexa a cat one day, and call it Bob.” She had giggled, moving closer to him._

“ _We could get her a cat, but I don’t want to call it Bob.”_

“ _What is it with you and the name Bob?”_

_He had once again shrugged without offering her an explanation._

* * *

 

Now thinking back to that night, she realized that it was just a few days after this little conversation under the fake sky that Oliver had told her of his plans to escape.

Could there be a connection to their conversation and Oliver leaving? She didn't have the time to find the answer to that question. Her laptop beeped, alerting her that Laurel was halfway across town.

It was time for her to execute her plan.

* * *

Oliver looked out from the limo to see if they had reached their destination yet. The city lights sparkled under the dark cloudy sky. Even though it was late, and it was a weeknight, the streets of Hub City were still buzzing with energy. Hub City was known for its nightlife. It wasn’t an uncommon sight to see people in their twenties out on the streets having fun, drinking and smoking.

He had no interest for that kind of a life — a meaningless, shallow, pathetic life. But he would be a liar if he were to say he never wondered whether he would have been one of them if ARGUS had never taken him. He at times had caught himself wondering what kind of man he would’ve been if he wasn’t trained and groomed by an organization such as ARGUS. Certainly, neither would he be running, nor would he be living as if the whole weight of the world was on his shoulders, nor would he be working for the Bratva right now. Life would be easier, no doubt. Nonetheless, he knew he would never trade the life he had if it meant he never got to meet his Felicity.

He took his phone out and accessed Felicity’s profile on the contact list. It had been almost a month — 27 days, 20 hours and 15 minutes to be exact — since Oliver had last spoken to Felicity, and he missed her like crazy.

He wished he had a picture of her.

He really wanted to see her. He really wanted to hear her voice. He really wanted to talk to her. But he knew he couldn’t.

When he had called Felicity the night after her birthday, Laurel had answered the phone. As soon as he had recognized Laurel’s voice, he had used the voice modulator on his phone and had pretended to be a Frenchman who had dialed a wrong number. Laurel hadn’t seemed as if she had suspected anything. She had barked at him for dialing the wrong number and had simply hung up.

After that incident, he hadn’t tried to contact Felicity. He had instead used the spies he had planted inside ARGUS to find out how Felicity was coping. According to them, Malcolm Merlyn had put Felicity through an array of psychological tests and simulations to torture her. He had grilled her for days and had tried to find out if she knew anything of his whereabouts. Felicity being the genius that she was had managed to pass all the tests without revealing that he had made contact with her.

He wasn’t the least surprised to hear of her ability to keep things hidden. Actually, in a way, it was ARGUS’ fault that she was so good at concealing the truth. They had trained all three of them all too well. They could lie even on a polygraph test without even batting an eye.

Even with all the information he had gotten, he was still worried about her. He still longed to see her.

He wondered if she had liked the arrow charm he had given her and if she had attached it to her bracelet.

He wondered whether she realized that she only had needed to say the word for him to stay that night.

He wondered if she realized how much he loved her.

He wondered if she realized how much he had wanted to kiss her the last time they met.

He closed his eyes and wished that somehow, someway, he would get to see her face, hear her voice again, hear her say his name again.

She always had a way of saying his name that made him feel better, regardless of how grim the situation was.

* * *

 

“ _Oliver! Wake up! Wake up!” He had heard Felicity's cries, but he hadn’t had the strength to open his eyes and look at her or tell her not to worry. Whatever drug ARGUS had tested on him this time around had made him weak and drowsy._

_He had just turned eight, but of course ARGUS didn’t see him as a child. To them, he was merely a test subject, an asset. So they had performed whatever test they wanted on him, some without Walter’s knowledge or permission. Those were the scariest of them all._

“ _Is Oliver going to be ok, Mr. Walter? Is he going to go to Heaven like my mama did?” Even the sound of Felicity’s little voice had made him feel better._

_He had lied there, imagining her standing beside his bed, tears streaming down her chubby cheeks, lips formed into a cute pout, a few strands of hair springing out of her pigtails, and holding Molly in a tight embrace as she did whenever she was scared._

_It had barely been two months since Felicity had joined Laurel and him at ARGUS, but even with an age gap of almost five years he had found himself playing and spending more time with Felicity. If he had gotten a chance to ask his eight-year-old self why he had felt so connected to someone as young as Felicity than to Laurel who was his own age, he was sure he would have said it was because he loved the little blue-eyed blonde. Clearly, at that age, he couldn’t have known the depth or the actual meaning of it all, but he had known how important she was to him even then._

_However, even at that tender age he had felt that confessing those feelings could bring trouble to both their lives. He had felt that ARGUS could, and would, easily use his love for her to manipulate him. So he had kept it to himself._

“ _He’s going to be alright, Felicity. I promise. You sit right here until I have a few words with the person who did this to Oliver without my permission, ok?” Walter had said to Felicity._

“ _Ok.” Felicity’s voice had been akin to one of a scared little mouse._

“ _Just sit there and hold his hand. Don’t let go.”_

“ _I won’t. Never ever.” Oliver had smiled mentally, listening to the determination in Felicity’s voice as she clasped his right hand with her delicate ones._

“ _I’ll be right back.” With that, Walter’s heavy footsteps had faded into the distance._

_For a while, he had heard nothing but the beeping sounds of the heart monitors attached to him and the sounds of whatever other machine they had connected to his body._

“ _Oliver, can you hear me?” Felicity had leaned over and whispered in his ear, the ends of her pigtails tickling the side of his face._

“ _Don’t be scared. You’ll be ok. Walter promised me. He told me to hold your hand. I won’t let go, ok? Never! We’re friends forever and always, ok? Remember?” She had squeezed his hand tightly before continuing with her babble. “A doctor is here too. She’s nice. She’s pretty too… like Laurel. And Laurel is there... outside. She’s scared to come in. But she can see you from the other side of the glass. But, I’m not scared. Uhm … No, I lied. I’m scared. But just a little scared, ok? Not a lot. But I didn’t really want to stay outside.” Her tears had fallen onto his face, and his eyes had fluttered opened._

“ _Felicity, don’t cry.” His voice had been barely audible, but she had smiled big and wide, tears still rolling down her puffy pink cheeks. “Don’t.”  He hated seeing tears in her eyes._

_It had been the first of many days where he had woken up after a grueling test and had found her sitting next to him, holding his hand, smiling through her tear-filled eyes._

_Just as she had been there for him by his bedside whenever he needed her, he too had made it a point to be by her side whenever she needed him._

* * *

 

“We’re here.” John Diggle, his friend, driver, and sometimes bodyguard informed him as he pulled up the limo in front of the rundown hotel built in the 50s. Although in the 50s it used to be one of the hottest hotels in Hub City, now it was a poorly maintained hotel with an underground casino, run by Oliver himself on behalf of the Bratva. He was told that it was a temporary arrangement until they give him their next assignment, but to be honest, he had taken a liking to the place.

“Park the car, and come to the casino.” Oliver got out of the car, buttoning his coat.

“Will do.” John nodded before driving away.

John Diggle was a good man. He was one of the few men in the Bratva Oliver trusted. He had the kind of life Oliver one day hoped to have — a house in the suburbs, a beautiful wife and a three year old daughter.

However, his friend had a secret agenda of his own. He believed his brother was killed by the hands of a Bratva member, and he was there serving the brotherhood just so he could find his brother’s killer and avenge his death.

Upon finding out about Oliver’s situation, John had sworn to help Oliver with his problems if he would help with his, and Oliver had agreed to it without much hesitation.

From that day on, Diggle had been very helpful to Oliver with his mission. He had helped him plant spies at ARGUS, and he had even tailed Felicity’s car a couple of times — at Oliver’s request — just to make sure she was safe.

“Good evening, sir.” The doorman opened the door for Oliver as soon as he recognized him.

Oliver greeted him back with a smile and entered the building quickly as he was already running late for his meeting.

There were scarcely half a dozen people hanging about the lobby. It hadn’t been remodeled or even repaired for a long time. So it still had the same colorful wallpaper, the same furniture, carpeting and the same gaudy chandeliers it probably had since the day it was build. None of them were in their prime condition, but it wasn’t hard to imagine how the place might have looked in its heyday. It wasn’t that the Bratva couldn’t afford to refurbish the place. They just didn’t care since the hotel was just a front for their underground casino and many other illegal operations they undertook.

“Ваши друзья уже здесь , капитан. Новый босс будет здесь через пятнадцать минут.” [“ _Your friends are already here, Captain. And the new Pakhan will be here in fifteen minutes.”]_ The receptionist who had been sitting behind the front desk stood up out of respect.

“Спасибо , Саша.” _[“Thank you, Sasha.”]_ He winked at the young girl before walking past her to the private elevator.

The casino was at a secret underground floor which could only be accessed by punching a code using the elevator button panel.

The entrance to the Casino was closed as it always was when Oliver got there and he knocked on the door thrice.

It opened a crack, and the security guard appeared from behind it. From the way the man’s eyes shot up, it was apparent that he had recognized who Oliver was, but rules were rules, he couldn’t just let Oliver in even if he was his boss.

“Password?” the guard asked in his thick Russian accent.

“Snapdragon.” As soon as Oliver whispered the password the door opened, but just enough for him to walk in.

Unlike the rest of the building, the crowded Casino was well-kept, and its interior had been updated to suit the modern times. The eternal cloud of cigar smoke floating above their heads — which no one seemed to have noticed or minded — brought a sense of mystery and intrigue to the place. Oliver could easily separate the high rollers from the non high rollers just by the expensive jewelry on a woman’s neck or by the type of shoes a man wore.

A flash of blonde hair, a familiar laugh coming from the far right corner of the casino grabbed his attention, and he stopped in his tracks to see if it was who he wanted it to be.

He craned his neck and looked over the crowd. There were many blondes lingering about the floor, but not the one he had been hoping and yearning to see for the past month.

Was he missing her so much so that he was now starting to see and hear things? He shook his head thinking how silly it was of him to even think for a second that she would be there in an underground casino, run by the Bratva no less.

But, what if she was here? What should he do? Should he run to her? Kiss her?

No, those probably weren’t the safest things to do.

He straightened his tie. He needed to try and not think about her at least for the next half hour until his meeting was over.

Plastering on a smile, he entered his office. "Извините, что заставил вас джентльмены ждать." _["Sorry to have kept you gentlemen waiting."]_ He greeted the two Bratva Kapitans sitting in front of his desk.

Although the Bratva was a criminal organization, they had their own rules of conduct, and tardiness was something they utterly despised. If Oliver’s reasons for being late hadn’t been a shootout with the Chinese Triad earlier in the afternoon, they would have most probably gotten up and left already.

The older one of the two Kapitans nodded. "Нет, это нормально. Мы слышали о вашей встрече с китайской триады." _["No, it's fine. We heard about your encounter with the Chinese Triad."]_

"Давайте начнем с бизнесом, то, мы?" _["Let's get on with business then, shall we?"]_ His other guest said with an unimpressed look on his face.

 _“_ Да, давайте начнем.” _[“Yes, let’s begin.”]_ Without wasting another second, Oliver took his seat behind the desk and presented his ideas about the arms deal they were there to discuss. They listened and agreed with his points as he explained everything that could be done to make the deal advantageous for them.

But what he didn’t tell them was how, once they’d finalize their plans, he was going to tip off Hub City police so that the arms exchange could be stopped before it happened.

“Kapitan, Oliver,” Diggle knocked on the door once and entered his office.

“Excuse us, sir.” Ivan, the head of security at the casino, came in after Diggle.

“What is it?” Oliver yelled at the two men as he had to maintain a certain image of authority in front of the other two captains.

“Sorry to disturb you, sir. We caught a woman counting cards. We were going to deal with the situation ourselves, but Mr. Diggle here insisted that we inform you of it first.”

Oliver glanced over at Diggle who had a look about his face which said this was something that needed his immediate attention. “Gentlemen, if you don’t mind, I will quickly go and see to this problem and come back.” He was about to stand up and leave, but the head of security interjected.

“Sir, you can have a look at the security footage from here... if you want to.”

"Мы не против , если вы справиться с этим вопросом здесь," _[“We don’t mind if you handle this matter here,”]_ one of his guests said as he sat back in his chair and turned his attention to the security monitor that was currently turned off.

Diggle seemed as if he was completely against the idea, but Oliver felt he didn’t have a good enough reason to leave the two captains to solve this comparatively smaller matter. So he gestured at Ivan to show him the footage. “Very well then.”

Ivan promptly called the team monitoring surveillance videos and asked them to playback the related footage on the monitor. “That’s her!” Ivan pointed at the screen when the woman in question appeared.

Oliver froze. It was her. She was here. Felicity… It took him a moment to realize that this wasn’t just his imagination, that she was actually here. In his casino.

She was sitting at the blackjack table, wearing the dress he had given her on Valentine’s day, and her hair was styled into an intricate bun with a few locks of hair let loose and draped over her left shoulder.

He hated that damn table with every part of his being for preventing him from having a full view of her. But whatever he could see was enough to convince him that she looked perfect in it. The way the dress hung off her shoulders, the way it showed off her cleavage, her small waist, made his body ache with need.

He spotted the bracelet he had given to her a decade ago still hanging on her wrist despite the fact that it didn’t really go with the dress. Yet, no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t quite see if she had attached the arrow charm he gave her.

However, he didn't get to examine her wrist for that long. His attention was pulled to her hot red painted lips when she started talking to the dealer. The security video had no sound, so he read her lips to find out what she was saying. “ _Does money play?_ ” she was asking.

Money plays weren’t usually allowed in his casino unless the player was a high ranking member of the Bratva, or unless the dealer found the player attractive. And by the way the young dealer smirked at Felicity as he allowed her to place a bet with cash, it was clear what was going on in the dealer’s mind, or rather his pants.

Oliver’s jaws clicked as he watched Felicity pull a few hundred dollar bills out of her bra.

It took only a couple of minutes for him to realize that she was trying to get caught counting cards — most probably to be noticed by him. But the problem was, it was not just him that seemed to have noticed the gorgeous blonde in red sitting at the blackjack table. Every man and woman seemed to have noticed her.

He wished he was standing behind her, just so he could run his hand over her collarbone, just so he could mark the soft skin of her shoulder with his mouth, and let anyone that even dared to glance her way know that she was his.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a second to get his mind back on track. Her being here was not safe. Him reacting to her like this, when there were two other Bratva captains sitting right in front of him was even worse.

"Теперь я понимаю, почему они хотели обрабатывать Этот вопрос самостоятельно. Она великолепна.” _[“Now I see why they wanted you to handle this matter yourself. She’s gorgeous,”]_ Oliver heard one of the captains say, and he gripped the edge of his desk tightly to control the anger overtaking him.

“Может быть, я могу иметь круглое с ней после того, как вы закончите.” [ _“Maybe I can have a round with her after you’re done,”]_ the other captain added and Oliver’s vision tunneled upon the two men.

“ _Она моя!” [“She’s mine!”]_ he growled, standing up. He felt the need to lay his claim over Felicity and dismiss any ideas the other Bratva members had over her.

He couldn’t remember ever feeling so possessive. He had always been protective of her. He had also felt jealousy before — once, long time ago — when Felicity was sixteen. She had jokingly said that Malcolm Merlyn’s bodyguard ‘Bob’ was kind of cute. It was a harmless comment, but he had pouted over it for days. However, Bob hadn’t noticed Felicity’s appreciation of him, and for whatever reason, he had also been transferred to their branch in Hong Kong soon after.

Nevertheless, what he had felt at that moment had been nothing compared to what he felt now.

He could only amount it to the fact that, other than the situation with Bob, he hadn’t truly seen someone look at Felicity the way the dealer and the other Captains were looking at her. This was actually the first time he had heard anyone talk about Felicity that way, and he just wasn’t used to it.

Though he was not the least surprised that men found Felicity attractive, or that it brought out an overpowering feeling within him, he simply didn’t know how to handle these emotions just yet.

“Where is she now?” He turned to Diggle, but Ivan stepped forward before Diggle could reply.

“In my office. Two of my men are guarding her.”

“Take me to her.” Oliver knew his decision to abruptly leave the two Bratva members could have major consequences, but he couldn’t care less. All he wanted to do was to go to Felicity. Not simply because he was aching to see her, but also because he knew the longer she stayed, the higher the chances of ARGUS showing up here.

“What about our discussion?” The older one of the captains asked him just as he was about to leave.

“I’ll email you the outline of my plans.”

“But—”

“I have to go.” He dashed out of the room without even looking back to see if Diggle and Ivan had followed him out.

Oliver turned around when they were just a few feet away from the Head of Security's office. “Stay here!” he told Ivan.

“Yes, sir.”

While Ivan stayed back, Diggle approached him just as he was about to open the office door. “Are you sure this is not some kind of trap to lure you out?” he asked in a voice only Oliver could hear.

“I’m sure. If they are somehow using Felicity to trap me, I’m a trillion percent sure she would’ve found a way to let me know that this is a trap. She would’ve signaled me through the security camera,” he whispered back as he placed his hand on the door handle.

“I know how you feel about her man, but—”

There were no buts. He knew her. She would never betray him. “I trust her.” With that, he went inside, and closed the door leaving Diggle behind.

His heart leapt at the first sight of her sitting in a chair in the middle of the small room, glaring at the two security guards who unashamedly ogled at her leg that peeked through the slit in her dress.

“Get out!” he yelled at the guards as he yanked out the wires that powered the security cameras in the room.

He saw Felicity’s eyes lit up with delight when she saw him, but she was quick to school her expression so the guards wouldn’t find out there was something more between them.

“Sir?” The two confused guards looked up at him.

“I said get the hell out!”

As soon as the guards scampered out of the office, and the door closed, Felicity ran into his arms.

She didn’t say anything. She buried her head in his chest, and held onto him tightly.

Oh, how much he wanted to wrap his arms around her lithe frame and stay there forever. Yet it wasn’t the right time or the place. Felicity should never have escaped ARGUS to meet him at an underground Casino where some of the world's most dangerous criminals lurked about.

He grabbed her by her shoulders and tore himself away from her. “What the hell are you doing here? Do you know what kind of a place this is?”

She blinked for a second as though she hadn’t expected him to react this way to seeing her for the first time in a month. “Oliver… there was no choice. I had to—”

“You’re leaving right now! It’s not safe here! Diggle, my bodyguard, will take you back.” He tried to take her hand and guide her out, but she pulled her hand away.

"No!” Tears sprung out from her eyes as she backed away from him.

“Fe-li-ci-ty!”

“I didn’t risk my life to come all the way out here for you to send me away like this... Without even listening to what I have to say! Aren’t you even a little bit happy to see me?” As she wiped her tears with her hand, he finally noticed the arrow charm hanging from her bracelet. The sight of that one tiny thing sent an overwhelming feeling of love through his whole body, and he stepped forward, pulling her into a hug.

“I’m so sorry, Felicity. Of course I’m happy to see you.” He just wanted to protect her, make sure ARGUS didn’t hurt her. But how could he have even for a second let her believe that he wasn’t happy to see her? How could he have made her cry?

“I’m beyond happy to see you Felicity. You can’t even imagine how happy I am to see you. But, the longer you stay here… ARGUS will know—”

“Don’t worry about them.” She pulled away slightly from the hug to look up at him. Her eye makeup was just a bit smeared from the tears, but he felt that it somehow brightened up her eyes. “I sent all of them to the other side of Hub City on a little wild-goose chase. They think you’re meeting some Bratva members at a nightclub. And luckily for me, tonight there’s also a parade on that side of the city and they are sort of trapped there. So, they won’t be returning any time soon to the cozy hotel bedroom I’m suppose to be in right now. And, don’t even ask me how I managed climb out of my window with my extreme fear of heights.” She talked animatedly, her eyes growing wider as she expressed her excitement and fears.

“Then I hailed a cab for the first time in my life! I know it might not be something exciting for you but it was for me. And the cab driver might have gotten a little excited too, when I started to change into this." She said gesturing at her dress. "He almost drove the cab head first into a truck,” she added with a laugh.

In spite of the annoyance he felt hearing about the creepy cab driver, he felt a smile tugging at his lips listening to her babble.

“Why are you smiling?” She frowned.

"It’s just… pride… happiness...” and love.

“Oliver?” She tucked her bottom lip between her teeth, and he suddenly couldn’t think of anything but kissing her.

“I didn’t come here to see you.” Her confession woke him up from his daze and he narrowed his eyes at her.

“No! I mean I did… but, it’s not just because I ...missed you.”

She had missed him. It wasn’t the first time she had made that confession, but still, he liked hearing it. If there had been a mirror near by, he knew he would have caught himself grinning like an idiot.

“There’s something I need your help with.” She took out the hair clip that held her hair together and shook her head to let her hair fall out, and cascade down her shoulders.

He once again stood frozen, enamored with her beauty. He wanted to take a moment to just admire her, but she was already running towards the computer on the desk behind her, muttering something about ARGUS.

“What are you doing?” he asked as she plugged in the hair clip — which was actually a pen drive in disguise — into a USB port.

“A few days ago, I was snooping around ARGUS archives because I was bored, and I came across this. They’ve apparently started this after their cloning project failed.” She sat down on the chair in front of the computer, and showed him a series of documents which contained DNA records of both of them and DNA records of another — simply named _'OF001'_.

Felicity then opened a folder named _“SRGATE 0003”_. It contained pictures of a woman wearing a hospital gown. She looked half-unconscious in almost all of the pictures. As Felicity went through the pictures one by one, he began to notice a change in the woman.

She was pregnant.

“What is this, Felicity?” He looked at Felicity. Her face was white as a sheet and her eyes were red and misty with unshed tears.

“Felicity?”

She just wordlessly opened another folder. It contained images of the same woman. But now she was on a steel table in a morgue-like setting.

“What did they do to her? Is… is she dead?”

“Y—Yes. I found her records. It said that she died … she died giving birth.” Felicity’s voice cracked as she opened yet another set of folders. They all held pictures of a blue-eyed baby girl with blondish hair.

In one of the pictures, there was a tag hanging on the baby’s wrist. It clearly read _“OF001”;_ the same index code used on the DNA report.

“These pictures seem to have been taken a few months ago,” she said as she double-clicked on the last image. The baby was a little older — around five to six months — and all of a sudden he recognized the smile, the cheeks and the hair.

His brain put all the puzzle pieces together quickly. He understood what the DNA reports were saying. He understood what Felicity was trying to say. But he just couldn’t believe his eyes.

“They are… they’re trying to create a new generation of geniuses.” She closed all the documents and removed all traces of opening those files from the computer.  

He stood unmoving and silent for a few moments, trying to process everything he saw.

“I matched the DNA codes I found and—” She stood up and turned to him, playing with her fingers nervously, a tear escaping her eye. "Oliver, she’s… she’s—”

“Ours,” he supplied.

She nodded slowly with her lips pursed. “I want to get her out of there. I want her to be free. I don’t want her to be used like they used us. I didn’t even know they… they did that to my body.”

He thought back to all those tests they had gone through, all those times they took Felicity into their medical unit and all those times she came out unconscious without any memory of what had happened to her. He wondered what else they could have done to her. How else had they violated her body?

How could he have been so foolish? He had always thought ARGUS would never physically harm her because she never had any scars or marks after physical exams, but now he knew he had been wrong.

He fisted his hands to control the rage building inside of him.

“Oliver.” It was her voice, the way she said his name, that helped him control the anger, helped calm him, that brought him back.

“I want her to have a better life than us,” she said, tears tracking down her cheeks. She looked as broken and as helpless as he felt.

“Shh… Shh…” He quickly drew her into another hug. It wasn’t just to comfort her, it wasn’t just because he knew she needed his support right then, it was also because he too needed her to center him. And she did. She always did.

“I know I didn’t technically give birth to her,” she began to mumble. “And I know neither one of us was physically present or technically participated in the baby-making process. But still—”

She lifted her head a little to look up at him. “Still she’s mine, Oliver. They hadn’t even named her. She’s just a number to them.”

He placed a kiss on her temple. He could understand her pain. He felt it too. They knew what it felt like to grow up in a place like ARGUS. Their little girl deserved more than that, more than a number, more than a room in the ARGUS medical unit. She deserved the world.

“I can’t get her out of there by myself. They’re keeping her heavily guarded. I need your help. Will you… will you help me?”

“Oh, Felicity… Like I’ve always told you, if it’s you asking I’ll always do it. And… this… This is my—our child. Of course I’ll do everything I can to get her out of there.” He himself was somewhat surprised how quickly he had accepted the news and was willing to fight for a baby he hadn’t known existed until a couple of minutes ago. On the other hand, he shouldn’t be surprised by it. This was something he had always dreamed of;   a family with Felicity, a daughter with a cute button nose that babbled like her, and a boy who was as stubborn as him. Sure, it probably was not the most conventional way to start a family, but their lives had never been conventional. If this was the game fate wanted to play with them, he would play it. He would take that baby into his arms in a heartbeat.

“Thank you.”

“You know you don’t really have to say that, right?” He wiped away her tears with his thumb.

“I know.” She smiled as she brought her hand up to his face. It was only when she gently swiped her thumb across his face and brushed away a tear right under his eye that he realized he too had cried.

They both began to chuckle for some unknown reason. Perhaps they were both happy to realize that neither one of them were alone in this. Perhaps they both had realized that they should just take a moment to be happy that they were biological parents to the most adorable baby in the world. Either way, he found the way she was smiling back at him heartwarming and beautiful. His heart swelled with hope and love as he kept gazing down at her.

He felt that this was it. This was the perfect moment to tell her how he felt. “Felicity, there’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for some time now.”

She stopped smiling and stared at him panic stricken. “Oh frack!”

“What?”

“My breast! It’s vibrating!” She pulled away and put her hand inside her bra.

“What?”

“The tracker.” She pulled out a few tiny, chip-sized electronic devices from her bra — an earpiece, some kind of small display, and another communication device Oliver knew could only be one of Felicity’s own inventions.

“What else do you have in there?” he mocked.

She rolled her eyes at him and showed him the tiny gadget that started to beep in her hand. ”It’s set to warn me when Laurel’s GPS signal starts to move back towards the hotel.”

He had almost forgotten how little time they had. He had almost forgotten that they would have to say goodbye once again.

“You should go,” he said reluctantly.

Felicity grabbed his hand and stared at him pleadingly. “No! Oliver I want to st—”

“It’s easier to get her out of there if you’re helping me from the inside.” He could have easily let her stay. Damn it! He wanted her to stay. However, he had a faint idea of how he could get their daughter a out of there, but it came at a huge risk. He also planned to destroy the place in away that Malcolm Merlyn and Laurel would neither be able to come after them, nor be able to do the same to anyone else again - at least not in the near future -and he needed Felicity there at ARGUS to execute his plan smoothly.

"But Oliver—” Her eyes were asking him to either let her stay or tell her what he was planning, but he couldn’t do either. He knew she wouldn’t approve of his plans.

“Trust me.” He put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it slightly.

“Always.” She took his hand off her shoulder and placed the pen drive on his hand.

“There are some blueprints of the headquarters on the pen-drive. The place has changed a lot since you were there. I’ve marked all the vulnerabilities in their security system. It could help you find ways to get in and out of there quickly,” she explained as she put the rest of the devices back inside her bra.

“It will.” He clutched the pen-drive tightly in his palm.

“So what did you want to tell me?” The little peek he got of her leg as she sauntered closer to him made him want to slip his hand inside the slit and let it slide up just to see how she would react to his touch. He had dreamed of seeing her in that red dress for so long, had dreamed of so many different ways of taking that dress off of her for so long, for him to not to think of touching her — even if the timing and the circumstances were not the best.

A faint buzzing sound prevented his thoughts from straying any further. “I think your bra is buzzing again.”

“That’s the second warning,” she pouted.

“You better go. My friend Diggle will take you back.” He went and opened the door. After dismissing Ivan by telling him to go and make sure the building was secure for the Pakhan’s arrival, he asked Diggle to come inside and meet Felicity.

“This is John Diggle. And John, this is Felicity.” He introduced them as he positioned himself beside Felicity.

“Oh, I know who he is. Ex-soldier. Grew up in the Glades. Married to Lyla Michaels. Father to a beautiful three-year-old girl. I did my research on all your associates before coming here.” Felicity snorted out a cute laugh putting her hand forth.

Oliver was quite amused to see Diggle still standing in front of the closed door, shocked that Felicity knew so much about him.“If it’s on the Internet, she can find it.” Oliver chuckled.

“It’s nice to finally meet you. Oliver did tell me his girl is a wizard with computers. But, this is impressive.” John finally shook Felicity’s hand.

“Thank you. But, I’m not really his girl. I mean I am a girl and I do help him with stuff. Very platonic stuff... for survival purposes.” A very noticeable blush crept up Felicity’s neck as she tried to explain herself. “Well I guess that kind of does make me his go-to-girl for the stuff that I help him with. But I’m not really his _girl_ girl. I mean we’re just friends.”

Oliver cleared his throat, stopping her in mid-ramble. Her last words stung him. It was true they were friends. But, they were not just friends. He never saw them as just that. Ever.

“Let’s get going, shall we?” he suggested.

Diggle turned around to go and Felicity followed his lead. However, before she had barely taken two steps, Oliver grabbed her hand and stopped her. “Felicity.”

Diggle glanced over his shoulder. “I’ll wait for you two outside.” He left, closing the door behind him, giving them a moment to say their goodbyes.

“I’ll get Alexa and you out of there,” he said as he gripped her hand a little bit more tightly. He hadn't forgotten what they had talked about under the stars that night. He hadn't forgotten that name. In fact, It was probably that conversation that made him see they needed to get out of ARGUS before it was too late.

“We’ll get her a cat one day and _not_ call it Bob?” Her eyes welled with tears of hope.

“Yeah...” He stepped closer to her, eyes falling to her slightly parted lips. Then he once again heard that annoying buzzing sound which reminded him that she had to leave.

“Third warning,” she told him, and let his hand go.

“Oh?”

“We’ll meet again.” She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

Diggle knocked on the door. “We need to get her out of here before the new Pakhan gets here. He’ll be here in five minutes,” he warned.

Oliver cussed under his breath, feeling as if the whole world was against them.

The only men in the Bratva that knew about Felicity were Diggle and Anatoly. It was risky to have Felicity anywhere near this new Pakhan who was notorious for abusing and using women like his play things. He didn’t care to whom the woman belonged to. Once he had his eyes set on someone, he would take her.

“I should go.” Felicity turned around and walked towards the door.

“Felicity,” he called her again just as she was about to open the door, and took his phone out from his pocket.

“Hmm?” She turned around with her brows knitted together, and he quickly snapped a picture of her.

Her brows went up. "Oliver?” She bit her lower lip.

“I’m not going to pass this opportunity to have a picture of you in that dress.” He smirked, snapping another picture. It was the most beautiful and adorable picture of her yet, he decided. But he had a feeling he was going to feel that way about every picture he would take of her.

Diggle knocked on the door again. “Guys? Time to go.”

Grudgingly, they both stepped out of the office.

Diggle quickly guided Felicity through the crowd as Oliver followed closely behind — close enough to protect her if needed, but far enough not to attract too much attention to the three of them.

Once inside the elevator, he grabbed her hand and she directed his eyes at the security camera, reminding him that someone could be watching them. It wasn’t an unusual sight for a Bratva member to see one of their captain’s escorting a beautiful woman out of the hotel. Plenty of nights he had walked around with a woman or two hanging onto his arms, just to keep up the facade. But the difference between the way he looked at Felicity, held her hand and the way he touched any other woman was like night and day. It would be clear to any outsider that Felicity wasn’t just another blonde head that their captain was taking home.

He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer a little bit roughly.

“Oliver?”

“Just go with it.” He kissed her cheek, even if he so badly wanted to press her against the wall and devour those red lips. The only reason he didn’t use the opportunity to kiss her like he wanted to was because he didn’t want their first kiss to be part of an act.

“Ok.” She snuggled closer to him, resting her head on his arm.

They stayed like that until the elevator stopped at the parking level.

Fortunately for them, the parking area was not crowded.

“Oliver, that’s the new Pakhan’s car,” Diggle said as they hurried to where the car was parked.

Oliver looked back and saw the Pakhan’s black Sedan entering the parking lot.

Diggle got in the limo first and started the engine.

“Get in now!” Oliver quickly opened the door to the back of the limo for Felicity.

She got in and rolled the window down. “Be safe.” She gave him a faint sad smile.

“You too.” If he didn’t notice the Pakhan getting out of the car from the corner of his eye, he probably would have bent down and kissed her finally. Instead, he cupped the side of her face.

She leaned into his touch. “Bye.” She rolled up the window and it went up too quickly for his liking, forcing him to take his hand out.

“I’ll see you again soon,” he promised her.

“I love you,” Felicity said, and before he could reply — tell her that he too loved her, tell her that he had loved her from the first moment he’d met her — the window had completely rolled up.

He was barely able to see her face through the tinted glass as the car pulled away. He kicked the speed bump next to him, disappointed at himself for not being able to just spit out those three little words.

* * *

 

“No! No! No!” It had been almost twenty minutes since she had returned to her hotel room, and she was still beating herself up for letting those three words finally slip out.

Not only had she just dropped a bomb on him by saying he was the father of a five-month-old baby girl, she had also told him that she loved him.

“Calm down, Felicity. Just because you meant _love_ love, it doesn’t mean that he took it that way.” He could have thought that she meant she loved him as a friend. He probably wouldn’t even think too much into it. Would he?

But, would it be so bad if he knew how she felt?

Yes. It would be horrible if he didn’t feel the same way, she told herself.

But hadn’t things gotten a little hot and confusing between them the last time he had visited her? Didn't it almost get hot and confusing a few minutes ago in that office and maybe in that elevator too?

So was it that far off to think that he too felt the same?

Her eyes strayed to the big green dot on her laptop that indicated Laurel’s GPS location. It was suddenly moving in the opposite direction rather than moving towards the hotel. They had been just 342m away from the hotel and Felicity thought the sudden change in course was a bit strange. They usually didn’t change direction without notifying her. Even while she was in the cab on her way to the casino, they had been in constant contact with her. She quickly turned the comlink on.

“Laurel, what’s going on?”

“ _He’s there… In the Hub City tower!”_  From the way Laurel’s voice was shaking Felicity could tell that she was running very fast. “ _We wasted so much time looking for him on the other side of the city, when he was right under our noses.”_

Felicity’s stomach flipped. She didn’t have to ask to know who Laurel was talking about. She knew. They had found Oliver.

But how did Oliver end up there? What was he doing there?

Felicity yelped as sounds of gunshots blasted in her ear. “Laurel?!”

“ _He’s stuck on the roof!”_ Laurel yelled.

Every time she heard a shot being fired through her comlink her heart rate went up a few beats.

She jumped off the bed and ran towards the window. She couldn’t really see anything on the rooftop of the Hub City Tower. It was too dark up there. Yet, from time to time, she could see a spark of light whenever a gunshot was being fired.

“Laurel, tell me what’s happening up there!”

“ _We’ve got him! We’ve finally got him!”_  Laurel shouted in her ear triumphantly.

Felicity turned the comlink off and pulled the earpiece out. “Shit! Shit!” Her head began to spin.

What had he been doing in the building right in front of the hotel they were staying? What was he thinking?

She rubbed her forehead trying to understand what the hell was going on, and then it suddenly it her.

This was his plan! This was how he was planning to help her get Alexa out of there!

No! No! He had made the decision on impulse. She was sure of it. He would always follow his heart even if his brain told him otherwise. She had noted it to be both his biggest weakness and his biggest strength. She should have known it the moment he named her ‘ _Alexa_ ’ that he would do something as risky as this.

All these years he had fought so hard to be free, all these years she had tried so hard to make sure that ARGUS never caught him and he had risked it all for his daughter — their daughter. If he had told her this was what he was planning to do she would have told him how stupid it was. She would have told him that they needed to find another way.

Then again, if she had been in his position, she figured she would have done the same. She remembered how her heart had clenched when she had discovered that the cute little blonde girl in Cell 54 Floor 5B was her daughter. The only reason she had been able to not lose her sanity over this was because she could spy on Alexa’s room through the security cameras and make sure she was safe. Oliver didn’t have that option. So she could understand why he had acted in such a way.

What he had said earlier tonight replayed in her mind. “ _It’s easier to get her out of there if you are helping me from the inside.”_

She hadn’t really gone to the casino thinking that she wouldn’t go back to ARGUS. But once she was there, she hadn’t found the heart to leave him. Even though she was a little heartbroken at the time to hear him once again ask her to stay at ARGUS, she now understood exactly why he had said it.

Of course she would help him. She would always help him wherever she was.

And sure, getting caught was probably the easiest and the fastest way to get inside the building. But how was he going to help her break Alexa out of there if they locked him up in a cell?

This was a huge risk! A huge stupid risk!

She could only hope that there was more to his plan than what she could see.


	5. April 2nd 2016

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys... Sorry for the long delay.
> 
> This chapter was a little hard to write. I actually had to divide it into two because I couldn't complete all of it. 
> 
> There's a lot more Laurel in this chapter than usual. ****But I promise she won't appear that much in the future chapters.
> 
> Hope you like it.
> 
> Thank you to The-Nerd-Princess for betaing the chapter.

**April 2nd, 2016**

Felicity sat in her glass cubicle at ARGUS’ IT division, nervously chewing on her red pen.

She hadn’t seen or heard much on Oliver ever since the day he was brought back to ARGUS, and that was five days ago. All she knew was that they’d been keeping him locked up in a cell in the basement and that Laurel was among the few people who were given permission to visit him.

They had disconnected all the surveillance cameras in that cell from the main network, so Felicity had no way of finding out what they were doing to him.

Were they hurting him? Threatening him? Or just interrogating him? 

She sighed loudly.

Not knowing what was going on with him was torture.

At least she still was able to check on Alexa. If it hadn’t been possible to see her little girl’s face she would have probably gone crazy with worry. Being able to see Alexa every morning was what gave her hope, what made her world a little brighter. It was kind of strange, and kind of wonderful, how quickly she had gotten attached and fallen in love with a little baby whom she still hadn’t even gotten a chance to hold.

The loud ding coming from the elevator had Felicity glancing over the monitors in front of her.

Malcolm Merlyn and Laurel stepped out along with a few other ARGUS higher-ups. They were talking too softly and standing too far way for Felicity to understand what they were talking about, but she had no doubt it was about Oliver.

She followed them with her eyes as they walked towards the corridor on their left.

Just before they all turned the corner and disappeared out of Felicity's sight, Laurel stopped and looked over her shoulder to flash a smug smile at her.

The anger Felicity felt towards the brunette made her blood boil. She bit down on her red pen a little too hard, and cringed at the taste of plastic that overwhelmed her tongue. Quickly pulling the pen out of her mouth she glared back at Laurel. Her smugness only seemed to increase the longer they continued with the stare down contest.

Felicity was very close to breaking the pen in her hand in two when Laurel rolled her eyes, and finally left to join the rest of the members.

“Argh!” Felicity yelled and threw the pen aside, catching the attention of the guard who had been standing a few meters to her right.

Even though she wasn’t under the same level of surveillance as she was before they caught Oliver, they still kept close tabs on her. Not close enough to stop her from finding out how her baby girl was doing, but close enough for her to be cautious, and constantly keep looking over her shoulder whilst she did things she wasn’t supposed to do.

“Is everything ok, Miss Felicity?” The guard asked, adjusting his cap.

“Hmm.. yeah… yeah. I’m fine. Everything’s fine.” She grinned nervously and turned her attention to the code she was told to develop.

Probably for the first time in her life, her own computer coding looked like gibberish to her. She couldn’t concentrate on one line of code long enough to understand what it meant. She kept seeing Oliver's face. She kept imagining him sleeping in a corner of a padded cell — hungry, cold, all alone and broken. Her heart ached for him and she had to remind herself that she wasn't alone in the room to stop herself from breaking down.

“Ugh!” Groaning she fixed her glasses, hoping it would somehow help her concentrate on the code at least for the next few minutes. She needed to have something to show Malcolm Merlyn when he would come to check on her progress later.

The sound of a familiar pair of heels clicking against the concrete floor made her look up again.

Laurel was heading towards her own office looking more than a little annoyed over something.

Felicity couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with Oliver. Was he all right? Were they hurting him?

She shivered, once again imagining all the horrible things they could be doing to him right at that moment. She knew the way ARGUS tortured people — chilling and ruthless. 

She must have been no older than five when she had first seen them break a man's hand just to get him to confess to a crime. She had never been able to forget how that man had cried that night. In fact, she had never gotten used to the screams and cries, even though she had heard them almost every other night. 

She couldn't let them hurt Oliver like that. She didn't want to hear Oliver scream like that.

And that was it. She had enough. She had wasted so much time guessing, wondering and worrying. It was time to take some action.

She had to have a talk with Laurel, she thought. Laurel seemed like the only person that could help her get information on him.

She knew their old friend most definitely wouldn’t divulge much, but she figured that she might at least tell her if he was ok.

Yet first, before doing anything, she had to make sure that no one eavesdropped on their conversation. That meant she had to turn off all the security cameras in the IT division.

“Concentrate, Felicity. Concentrate!” she told herself, and with a few keystrokes, set off a bug that was programmed to hijack the live camera feed and play a 5 second clip on a loop. She set the bug to deactivate itself within a few minutes so that the guards would think that it was just a technical glitch.

She was well aware that Laurel could still tell every detail to Malcolm, but she had come across some info on her that could be useful in this situation. The information wasn’t huge enough to force Laurel into telling everything she knew about Oliver. However, she believed it would be enough to keep her quiet about the conversation they were about to have. Blackmailing wasn’t something she wanted to do. That wasn't her usual modus operandi. So she hoped Laurel would remember that they all had been friends once upon a time, and honor that friendship for once by willingly telling her what she wanted to know.

Felicity heard Laurel open the door to her office, and she stood up to follow her.

“Where are you going?” the guard asked as she pushed her chair back.

“I need to talk to Laurel.” She stomped towards Laurel's office, with the guard chasing after her, asking her to return to her cubicle.

“Miss Felicity, stop!”

She banged on Laurel's door, completely ignoring the guard. “Laurel! Open the door! I want to talk to you.”

The door opened a few seconds later, and an annoyed Laurel stood in front of her with her hands on her hips. “What?!”

Without waiting for an invitation Felicity pushed her way in. “I need to talk to you. Right now.”

Laurel instructed the guard to wait outside and closed the door. “So let me guess, you want to find out how Oliver is doing?" She raised a brow. “I’m happy to tell you that Malcolm is making sure he doesn’t have the strength to even think about escaping again. He probably won't even remember he ever escaped when we are done with him and he probably won't even remember you.”

“You’re going to brainwash him?” Felicity had a big hand in helping ARGUS design their newest program that could erase a person’s memory completely and implant new thoughts into that person’s head, but she never in a million years would have thought that someday it would be used on Oliver.

“How can you let them do this to him, Laurel?” Felicity balled her hands to keep her anger in check. “How can you be this cruel? I know you like this whole idea of being an agent. I know you’ve wanted this for a long time, but why would you help the same people that made all our lives so miserable? We all used to be friends. How can being an agent be more important to you than the people you once called friends... or the man you love? ”

“Used to be friends?” Laurel scoffed. “You and I, we were never friends, Felicity.”

“Maybe that's because that’s how you always wanted to see it — how you always wanted it to be. Before all of this—” Felicity gestured at the office. The white walls, the futuristic steel furniture and the lack of any personal items made the place look sterile and cold. In a way, the room perfectly matched the icy personality Laurel possessed. “Before you became an agent, I used to think of you as a friend... And maybe on some level I might have even thought of you as a sister.” Until now, until those words just spilled out of her, Felicity hadn’t even realized how much she had wanted to have that kind of connection with Laurel when she was young.

She quickly realized that was probably why Laurel had been able to manipulate her so easily. Back then, the desperation to have a family, a sister — to have some form of a female role model in her life — seemed to have made her believe everything Laurel had said and turn a blind eye to most of her flaws.

She perhaps hadn’t really started to see Laurel’s true colors until she began to suspect her of leaking information about Oliver’s escape to Merlyn. Even then, she had been reluctant to think of Laurel as pure evil. Most times, she had felt sorry for Laurel for losing herself in the pursuit of her dream of becoming the best ARGUS agent there ever was.

But now? Now Felicity thought otherwise. Laurel had no empathy. No heart. Why else would she ever help keep the man she loved imprisoned in a place he once ran away from? How could she just watch him get tortured? Brainwashed? Wasn’t she scared of him forgetting her? Forgetting all those moments they had spent together?

The mere thought sent a chill down her spine. She didn’t even want to imagine talking to Oliver and not seeing the affection, the warmth she was used to seeing in his eyes when he looked at her.

“Felicity, stop lying to me and stop lying to yourself. You never saw me as a friend or a sister. You just—” Laurel pointed a finger at her and suddenly paused. She took a step back and just stared blankly at the floor as if she was trying to solve a complex puzzle.

“Forget about me then. What about Oliver? I thought you loved him?”

Laurel looked up at the mention of Oliver, and Felicity stepped forward. “Please don’t give me the same crap you gave me last time about how we don’t choose the people we fall in love with. Because… if you love someone, you just wouldn’t let anyone hurt them no matter what they are or what you are. You would do anything and everything to save them.”

“I have my reasons for doing what I do.” Laurel ground her teeth as she walked past Felicity. “I don’t owe you any answers or explanations.” She opened a drawer on her desk and took out a cigarette and a lighter. It seemed as if the pressures of being a merciless ARGUS agent had pushed Laurel to start yet another dangerous habit. 

Her hands shook as she put the cigarette between her lips and lit it up. 

Felicity wanted to feel sorry for Laurel, but she couldn’t bring herself to do that anymore. It wasn’t as though Laurel had been oblivious to what kind of a corrupted place ARGUS truly was when she decided that this was what she wanted to become.  It was her own life choices that had led her to that point.

“I guess that just leaves me to assume that you don’t love him anymore.” She didn’t know how Oliver felt about Laurel now, or if he still felt anything towards her anymore. Either way, she knew he didn’t deserve to be treated this way by Laurel. 

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe I don’t.”  Laurel walked closer to her and took a long drag of her cigarette. Then leaning forward, she exhaled a puff of smoke right into Felicity’s face. “Maybe I never loved him.“ 

Felicity stood unwavered. She kept glaring at Laurel through the smoke, trying not to react to the horrible smell of tobacco.

After another short drag of the cigarette, Laurel started to speak again. “Maybe I just wanted him, because you wanted him. Because perfect little Felicity always got whatever she wanted and I wanted to have the one thing she wanted the most. But the funny thing is, I didn’t even have to ask or fight for it. Because Oliver always saw you as nothing more than just a friend and he’s always been in love with me.”

Felicity couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her life hadn’t been easy. None of their lives had been easy. ARGUS had never given her any preferential treatment. “I have no idea what you’re talking about! I’m just angry with myself for ever thinking of you as a friend or a sister. And you know what, I don’t know if Oliver still loves you, but I do know that you don’t deserve his love!”

An expression that Felicity couldn’t quite comprehend took over Laurel’s face as she stepped back as if she was a wounded animal retreating from a losing battle. “Malcolm Merlyn is going to hear about your visit to my office, about just how much you care about Oliver. I think it’s time he knew.”

“Just like five years ago you told him about Oliver’s plan to escape?”

Laurel’s brows went up in surprise, confirming what Felicity had suspected for so long to be true.

“Did you really think that I would never figure it out?” Felicity stood with her arms folded in front of her chest. “Anyway, I’m sure Malcolm already knows that I care about Oliver.”

“Believe me, he knows. But I don’t think he knows just how much. He doesn’t know you care enough to barge into my office and demand answers. He doesn’t know that you’re in love with him.”

For a second Felicity wondered why Laurel hadn’t ever revealed that detail to Malcolm Merlyn. Was it possible she did care about her? About Oliver?

No! If she did, why would she let them do this to him? To them?

“And Malcolm also doesn’t know that you know about OF001.”  

“What?”

"OF001" Laurel repeated.

Alexa! Laurel knew she knew about Alexa.

Felcity hadn’t really wondered whether Laurel knew about Alexa’s existence, but it didn’t really surprise her to learn that she did. She was more shocked that Laurel knew she knew. “How did you—”

“I think you keep forgetting I’m one of the three smartest people in this building and I’ve had the same training as you. I might not be as good as you in computer coding, but I’ve known you long enough to figure out that the reason you keep smiling at your computer screen every morning for the past few days is because you’ve found out about her.”

Felicity’s hands began to shake. She hadn’t come into her office prepared for something like this.

“You’re lucky that I didn’t figure it out until my meeting with Malcolm was over, or I would have told him already.”

“If you tell anything to Malcolm about…about  this…. I’m going to make sure he knows that you’ve been taking Vertigo and you’re no longer fit to be working in the field.” She hadn’t wanted to do it, but Laurel had left her with no choice. She hadn’t dug up this info intentionally thinking she could one day use it against Laurel. She had simply been curious when she had caught Laurel leaving the office three days in a row around the same time. According to her phone records, it seemed as if she had an appointment with a civilian doctor. It was strange for an ARGUS agent to meet a civilian doctor when there was a medical unit freely available at ARGUS. Thus she had looked deeper into it and managed to find out that the doctor was in fact providing her with Vertigo — a drug that enhanced one’s ability and alertness for a few hours, but made the user drowsy and reckless for the next few.

“How...how did you— You wouldn’t dare!” Laurel laughed, but her eyes a gave away that she was more than a little worried about this secrets of hers being revealed. “Anyway, they would probably just suspend me for a few months. So I don’t care.”

“Yes, they would probably do something simple like that. But I know you don’t want your perfect record to be tainted by this. I know how much your ARGUS record matters to you.”

“You’re too much of a goody two-shoes to do something like that.” Laurel stared at her as if she was issuing her a challenge.

“Well, tell Malcolm Merlyn about how I feel about Oliver and that I know about Ale — my daughter and you can find out if I'm really a goody two-shoes or not.” Felicity hated Laurel for bringing out a side of herself that she didn’t like. On the other hand, Laurel had once again proved herself to be just another heartless ARGUS agent that deserved whatever punishment fate had in store for her.

“Have a nice day, Laurel.” Felicity walked off, closing the door behind her with a bang.

She was 99.99% sure Laurel wouldn’t babble to Malcolm about what they talked about, because Laurel didn’t want her record damaged in anyway. If she did tell Malcolm they might move Alexa to a different location and tighten the security around her even more. Alexa was an asset, just like she was, like Oliver was, like Laurel was.

Although she was scared to death about her daughter's future, she decided to deal with the consequences of their conversation if and when it would happen. She didn’t want to, but she had to. She had to focus on Oliver first. He was the one that needed her immediate attention. He was the one in imminent danger.

“Miss Felicity.” She hadn’t walked even ten feet when the guard that had been waiting for her outside slipped something into her hand.

She stared at him confused for a few seconds before slowly opening her hand to see what he had given her. 

"What is this?" she asked, pointing at the little piece of paper she found in her hand.

"Read it," he whispered.

There was still time for the cameras to come on. The IT division was relatively empty. So she looked around once and then opened the note.

_ I can take you to see the Kapitan Oliver _ , she read the note.

It took her just a couple of seconds to understand what it meant. From the way the guard had addressed Oliver, she assumed that he was one of Oliver’s friends from the Bratva.

She was amazed that Oliver had managed to get one of his men into ARGUS. She wondered if that was why he hadn’t been afraid to surrender to ARGUS so soon after learning about Alexa.

“Miss Felicity?” The guard was waiting for her response.

“When?” She asked.

“Laurel and Malcolm are leaving to meet some agents in Hong Kong in two hours. I think that will be our opening.”

Felicity agreed to the time with a gentle nod and returned to her computer station calmly, as though nothing had happened.

* * *

 

Oliver wasn’t really sure where they had him locked up. All knew was that his legs were chained up and his hands were cuffed to the chains hanging down from the ceiling.

All he felt was the warm air of the ventilation fan hitting his chest and the cold cement floor beneath his bare feet.  

All he saw was the flurry of strange, disturbing images that played on a loop on the Head-Mounted Display they had put on him.

His eyes were forced opened by some kind of apparatus to make sure he had no way of closing his eyes and escaping those vivid images playing on the HMD.

They were trying to brainwash him — to make him forget the last five years of his life and probably erase everything that still kept him human. Felicity... They were going to make him forget her. Alexa! He was going to forget about her. No! He couldn’t let it happen. He wouldn’t.

His love for them was going to help him fight this, help him keep his sanity, help him keep his memories intact, he was sure of it.

So despite the images flashing in front of his eyes, he thought about Alexa, about Felicity — her face, her eyes, her smile, her touch.

He tried to think about what their future would be like — what their family would look like.

* * *

 

_ He imagined a family picnic on a beach. _

_ Alexa was older — about two years old. She was making a sandcastle while humming a kids' song. Right beside him was Felicity, wearing a cute strapless sun dress that reached her mid thigh. She was beautiful — just lying next to him on the beach mat, basking in the sun, her hair shimmering like strands of gold, cheeks pink from the heat, lips painted with a bright fuschia lipstick that matched the color of the flowers on her dress. The bracelet he had given her long ago was still there, around her wrist and he smiled. _

_ “Felicity, I love you.” _

_ She smiled shyly as she scooted closer to him. “Oliver, I have something to tell you.” She put her chin on his shoulder. _

_ “What?” He gently ran his index finger along the nape of her neck. _

_ "Oliver—" Her eyes fluttered closed under his touch.  “I’m… I’m pregnant." She opened just one eye as though to sneakily check his reaction. _

_ He was so overwhelmed with joy, he couldn't even speak. He just kept gazing at Felicity... his love, his wife, the mother of his children. She was the kindest, most beautiful and intelligent person he had ever met and he felt so lucky that she loved him just as much as he did.  _

_ "You’re going to be a dad… again." She opened her other eye and bit on her lower lip. "I was going to tell you tomorrow. It was going to be your birthday present, but it's a beautiful day and you just looked at me like that and I couldn’t not tell you. And… Oh, Frack! Now I have to think of another present to give you tomorrow.  I had the pregnancy test all wrapped up with a bow and everything… And I—” _

_ He cut her ramble off with a kiss, letting his hand crawl under the flimsy material of her dress to feel her baby bump. There was nothing there yet, but he happily spread his fingers over her stomach. _

_ "I love you.” She ran her hand over the Bratva symbol that was tattooed just over his heart. _

_ “I love you too.” He kissed the top of her head and winced a little when her fingers skimmed over the little scar right next to the tattoo. _

_ It reminded him of just how ugly he looked. It reminded him of all the things he had done to survive and he felt that maybe Felicity deserved someone better than him. _

* * *

 

“Oliver! Oliver!” Felicity’s voice shook him awake, but he had been cut out from reality for so long he wasn't so sure if he was still dreaming.

"Oliver! Are you ok?” 

No, this had to be real. That was her voice. She was actually here. His Felicity was here.

He felt the weight of the Head-Mounted Display slowly being lifted off along with the apparatus that kept his eyes forcefully opened.  

He was relieved when he realized he was finally able to blink and he no longer could see those strange images they were forcing him to watch. 

However, his eyes couldn't handle the sudden change in light that well. He blinked more than a few times, and tried hard to focus on the blurry figure in front of him. "Felicity?" Gradually he was able to make out her worried face. 

"Oliver, I’m so sorry." Her tear filled eyes stared at him through her glasses. He barely had enough strength to keep his head from falling, but somehow he found himself smiling, seeing her. She was wearing a guard's uniform, but even in those unflattering dark blue pants and shirt, she looked amazing. She always looked amazing.

"I'm sorry. I can’t get you out of these chains.”

"It’s alright, Felicity. In a few more days they’ll be done with this.” From what he had read about brainwashing he supposed they would stop the process in another couple of days. His plan was to act as if it had worked so that they would never suspect that he would have any plans to take Alexa and Felicity away from this godforsaken place. He hadn't had much of a plan when he decided to turn himself in — he just hadn't been able to go back to his casino and wait while Felicity and Alexa were both in the hellhole that was ARGUS. Especially after Felicity said she loved him. Nonetheless, he was certain that this was the best and the fastest way to get them out of there. He had Felicity, he had Diggle who had promised to drive their getaway vehicle to anywhere he wanted and he had allies within ARGUS, so he felt the odds were on his side. 

“Oliver… I…” She put her hand on his cheek and he leaned into it, closing his eyes, taking comfort in the warmth and the love he felt radiating from her touch. 

“Felicity.” He gasped feeling her other hand wandering over his scars, the marred skin, all the tattoos that told what he had gone through in the past five years.

When her fingers traced the scar right next to his Bratva tattoo, he flinched just as he had done in his dream.

“Oliver, I didn’t know… that…” There was no disgust or judgement in her eyes. He could see that she was hurting simply by looking at the scars and realizing that he hadn’t had an easy five years by any means.

“It’s alright. It’ll all be worth it when the three of us finally get out of here.” They would move to a house far away and get a cat that wouldn’t be named Bob.

She banded her arms around him and gave a tight hug, her head tucked under his chin.

He took in her scent — jasmine and something else he could only describe as home, happiness and just Felicity. It gave him a new verve, and he found himself standing a little bit straighter and stronger.

“I don’t want to leave you, but I don’t have much time.”

He could feel her tears on his chest, trickling down his aching muscles and magically soothing all the pain away.

“I’m sorry. I have to go.” She pulled away from him and stepped back. He pulled on the restraints. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and keep her enveloped in his arms forever.

“I have to put this back on you to make sure they don’t suspect anything. But I’m attaching a small bug to it. It will stop the images from displaying for five minutes every half hour. I couldn’t give you longer breaks because I didn’t want to risk them finding out there is something wrong with this HMD.”

“It’s ok, Felicity.” Considering the fact that all this time he had managed to survive without barely any breaks and just by thinking about Felicity and their daughter, he felt five minutes would be more than enough for him.

“I really hope you can fight this thing. I… I don’t want you to be brainwashed. To forget about who you are — what you’ve been through. To forget about Alexa and… selfishly I’m hoping you won’t forget about me.”

“It’s not selfish. You… you and Alexa are the only thing that’s keeping me alive… keeping me from losing my mind. I won’t ever forget you. They can try all they want, but they won’t succeed.” He was more confident of it now more than ever.

“Miss Felicity. We should go.” A man's voice and a knock on the cell door took their attention.

“Your friend helped me get here.” Felicity gestured at the guard that was looking in from the half opened door.

"Demyan?" Oliver remembered him volunteering to come to ARGUS before he had even ask. It was Demyan's way of showing his gratitude to his Kapitan for rescuing his sister from her abusive boyfriend a few months ago. "Спасибо, Демьян." [“Thank you, Demyan.”]

“Что-нибудь для вас, сэр.” [“Anything for you, Sir”] Demyan nodded and then turned to Felicity to once again remind her that they didn’t have much time left.

“I’m sorry,” she said as she gently placed the HMD back on his head with the other gear she had taken off. 

He kept his eyes on her until the headgear completely blocked his vision of her.

The disturbing images started to play again, but now, after seeing Felicity, he was more than sure he was going to survive this torture. He was sure he would come out of it with all his memories intact. He had to.

“I love you.” He thought he heard her say right before something soft gently touched his cracked lips. A jolt of electricity ran through his body, awakening every nerve ending in his body and making him feel more alive than ever.

But it was gone before he realized the cherry lip gloss he tasted on his lips was hers.

She had kissed him. Felicity had kissed him.

Happy as he was with the kiss he was also somewhat angry with her. Because how dare she kiss him when he couldn’t see her or touch her? How dare she make this be their first kiss? 

They would sometimes bicker and argue, but he very rarely got genuinely angry with her. Like the time she got lost in the vent trying to play hide and seek, and returned to her room with bruised hands and knees, or like the time she had gotten hurt trying to stop a book case from falling on him.

And this… this was another one of those rare moments.

He grumbled internally.

But when he felt that softness and tasted that cherry lip gloss once more — this time, pressed more firmly against his lips than before — he lost his train of thought. His anger vanished, and he let himself be immersed in the thought and sensation of her lips touching his.

A magic-like energy surrounded them and he felt as if he was floating.

He was so easily able to block out the images displaying in front of his eyes and focus on the softness of her lips. It was heaven, but it was also hell since he couldn’t hold her the way he wanted — pull her closer and feel her curves against his body the way he wanted — grip the back of her neck, tilt his head, and kiss her the way he wanted.

The kiss once again ended too soon, and he couldn’t do anything to stop it. "Felicity…" he groaned.

It took him a moment to recover from the kiss and mumble that three word sentence. “I love you.” But he only heard the sound of the cell door being closed in reply.

He didn’t know if she had heard him or if he had imagined saying those words. A part of him desperately hoped he had said what was in his heart and she knew it wasn't one sided, but another part of him — a very selfish part of him — hoped she hadn't heard him because he wanted to see her reaction to his confession.

Would she blush when he would say those words again? Would she be too shy to look at him and try to hide from his gaze? Or would she be as bold as to kiss him again?

He hoped he wouldn't have to wait too long to find out.


	6. April 6th 2016

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!!!!
> 
> Hope you like this chapter. Hope it's not too boring. It's a bit longer than usual. 
> 
> Thanks to victori96572376 on twitter for very creative and beautiful poster.  
> And thanks so much to my beta The-Nerd-Princess. She helps me out so much. <3  
> Also thanks and lots of love to AlmondBlossom and OlicitySmoaky who is always encouraging me. <3

 

**April 6th 2016**

Everyone was whispering about it today. They were bringing Oliver up to the third floor; the same floor where all the three ARGUS geniuses grew up in.

Before that, they were going to perform some tests on Oliver to see if they had managed to erase his memory while retaining the knowledge he had acquired over the years. The technology used was tested on different individuals before using it on Oliver, and it had proven to be very successful. However, they still had to test him to make sure he was still the genius he was before he went through the procedure, and to see if the memories that they wanted to erase were, in fact, erased.

Most, if not all, factual knowledge was intertwined with memories. So it was a delicate task to make someone forget their past without damaging the facts, meanings, concepts, etc. they had managed to store in their brains.

If there were any indications of loss of knowledge they would have to feed him new data through the same device, but the process would have to be in reverse. Although knowledge can be fed this way to a genius like Oliver, and it was possible for him to absorb it without overloading his brain, refeeding any of the personal memories lost to anyone — no matter their IQ — was impossible.

All the theories and defects of brainwashing floating in her mind, and how it might impact Oliver, were making Felicity extremely nervous. She kept biting her fingernails as she sat in the rather empty last row of the observation area, waiting for them to bring him into the examination room below.

The observation area and the examination room where they would be carrying out tests were separated by a large glass wall. In the front row of the observation area there were scientists, doctors, officials and body language experts that would be monitoring everything he would do closely with the help of numerous machines, scanners and cameras.

While Felicity too was trained to read the data and scanned images produced by these devices, she couldn’t believe that they had requested her to be present at the observation area today. Sure she had a major hand in creating the brainwashing technology, but she had thought they probably didn’t trust her enough to invite her. It was so unexpected she wondered if it could be a cruel joke set up by Laurel to laugh at her when Oliver would fail to remember her. Either way, she was thankful to have the chance to be there.

When she had last seen him three days ago, he had managed to remember her. From what she could tell none of his memories were erased, and she hoped the little bug she had planted on his Head Mounted Display had helped to keep it that way.

Her heart clenched at the mere memory of seeing him chained up in that padded cell. She had almost broken down in tears that night when his cell door had opened, and she had seen him chained and mentally tortured by something she had helped make. The scars and tattoos she had seen all over his chest had hurt her soul deeply. She knew the past five years had been rough on him, but what she had seen told her his struggles had been beyond what she had imagined. She wished she had been able to be there for him at those times — help him some way, take care of him somehow.

She couldn’t understand why the outside world had been so cruel to Oliver.

Was it how it was out there? Was the outside world so cruel to everyone and not just Oliver? Was it worse than ARGUS? Was freeing Alexa and exposing her to that cruel world outside, the right thing to do? Would their daughter have to go through the same struggles that her father had gone through?

It couldn't be. Oliver wouldn’t have come to take Alexa away if he didn’t know that life outside was better. He wouldn’t have risked his own life and come back to ARGUS for her if whatever he had faced wasn’t all that the world had to offer.

The outside world, from what she had read and seen, was full of possibilities. One day, their daughter would be able experience it all. Their daughter would be free to be whatever, whoever she wanted to be out there.

They would make sure of it.

She would be able to see the stars if she wanted. She would be able to say 'no' to things that Felicity was never given the chance to say 'no' to. She would have a say in how to lead her life unlike her parents did. They would make sure she was safe and loved. They would fight for her. Do anything for her. If bad came to worse she wouldn’t think twice to sacrifice her own freedom, her own life for Alexa — for both of them.

She didn’t want to see either of them hurt ever!

 _“It’ll all be worth it when the three of us finally get out of here.”_ She remembered him say.

She had wanted to kiss him right then, but had been too scared to do so.

However, when she had put his HMD back over his eyes, suddenly the urge to kiss him had become stronger. The thought that the next time they would meet he might not remember her, and the knowledge that he couldn’t see her, had given her that extra push she needed to once again say what was in her heart, and press her lips against his.

She brought her hand up, and touched her lips almost unconsciously as she reminisced on that very special moment.

Three days have gone by, but she still remembered the feeling as though it had just been seconds ago.

His lips had been chapped, but she hadn’t cared. She had just wanted to press her lips a little harder into his, kiss him a little longer.

She might have had millions of fantasies of their first kiss being the most picture perfect kiss in the world — with a scenic backdrop, her favorite vinyl record playing in the background, both of them smiling into their kiss, and his arms wrapped around her — but that kiss, regardless of how and when it happened, had felt more than right to her.

She realized it was still perfect.

It was perfect because it was him. Because it was Oliver.

Oliver was the only ingredient that was needed to make that kiss perfect. She just hoped he wouldn’t forget their first kiss or the fact that she had said she loved him. Perhaps it was because of that fear she had dared to step even closer and kiss him again for a second time. Perhaps it was because it was the only thing she could think to do in that moment to sooth his pain and show him how much she cared. Perhaps she had kissed him for a second time because she just simply loved him so much.

She had pulled away from the kiss, and stepped back grudgingly, only because she had known time was running out. Nonetheless, she had taken a moment to try and read Oliver’s expression, find out what he felt about the kiss. Yet it had been hard to read what was going through his mind without being able to see his eyes.

Now, she probably would never know whether he hated it if his memories were erased. She would probably never know whether he was angry with her for taking that step, and maybe forever changing the beautiful friendship they had built over the years, if he could no longer remember who she was. She would probably never know if saying I love you again had affected him at all if he couldn't even remember that she ever existed.

She hadn't expected him to say those three words back to her, but she would be a liar if she were to say she had never hoped he would — that she’d never dreamed he would.

She had been almost on her way out of the cell when she had heard him mumble something.

It all had happened so quickly. His voice had barely been audible and coherent, she wasn’t so sure of what he had said. Nevertheless she wanted to believed he had said, “I love you.”

Honestly, the way her heart leapt when she heard him blurt out whatever it was made her think that was exactly what he had said. Even if Oliver himself one day told her it’d been something else, she would still believe that was when he had said he loved her for the first time. Hopefully, it would neither be the last time he would say it to her nor would she ever get to know she had been wrong.

She would have gone back in and asked him to repeat it if time hadn’t been running out — if Damyan hadn’t tugged her away by the hand and closed the cell door in a rush.

Damyan was probably a good man — well, as good as a man in the Bratva could be — but she had slightly hated him in that moment for dragging her away so abruptly.

That anger, however, had quickly faded away when she had learned why Damyan was willing to risk his life for Oliver. _"Kapitan Oliver saved my sister from her boyfriend. The bastard was going to shoot her and the Kapitan jumped in front of the gun to save her. The other Bratva men working undercover here also owe their lives to the Kapitan in some way or the other,"_ he had said that day as they crawled through the vents to get back to the IT division before anyone realized she had left her station to go see Oliver.

Damyan’s answer hadn’t surprised her. Oliver was the bravest and kindest hearted person she knew. He didn’t like seeing anyone get hurt. She knew that underneath the scars and the tattoos was a man that believed in goodness of humanity — a man with a heart that bled and ached for those he loved.

She could still remember how he used to fuss over the littlest things. Like that one time she had gotten lost inside the vents and had gotten blisters on her palms and knees from crawling for hours, or that other time she had a little cut on her hip while training to fight.

A smile rose on her lips as she sat back on her chair in the corner of the observation deck and let her thoughts wander to that night at the gym.

* * *

 

_Their trainer had left the gym to attend some urgent business, asking them to continue with their physical exercises for another 20 minutes. As soon as he had disappeared behind the door, Felicity had run and sat in her usual corner by the training dummy — who she had affectionately named ‘Harry’._

_Even at the age of 18 she had known her brain was her strength. She loved coding, computers and anything else she could do using her brain rather than any physical activity. Exercising, sweating, and punching Harry had never been things she enjoyed. She had always preferred watching Oliver practice Taekwondo, or watching Laurel trying to beat up a punching bag than do any of it herself. Although she wouldn’t say she was horrible at it. She had just never been or would never be as good as Laurel or Oliver._

_While it had taken her months just to get the basics of Taekwondo right, Oliver had already beaten their master thrice in a very short period of time. He was a fast learner, and she considered it a treat to have the opportunity to just sit and watch him move across the floor, focused like an eagle, graceful and powerful like a tiger._

_A little noise had escaped her lips when he had done a spin kick and landed on his feet without problem. His agility and balance had impressed her once again, and she had felt a strong urge to go up to him, and run her hand through his messy, sweaty hair._

_"Ahem.” She had cleared her throat to break out of the fantasies and remind herself that she had to be satisfied with just admiring him from afar._

_“Felicity?” He had turned around all of a sudden, and had caught her ogling him._

_“Yeah?” She had blushed fiercely as she watched him take his shirt off and toss it on the floor._

_Back then his body hadn’t been as defined as now, but still he had been in excellent shape for his age. The sheen of sweat that covered his body had made his skin glow and she had imagined that it must have been very close to what Greek gods looked like._

_“Are you alright?” His brow had crinkled as it almost always did when he was worried about her._

_She had gulped as her eyes ran over his lean torso one more time._

_“Fe-li-ci-ty? Are you ok?”_

_"Yeah… Yup! You’re fine… I mean I’m fine. Everything’s fine,” she had rambled, fixing her glasses as a means of avoiding his gaze._

_"Hey, Ollie!” She had almost forgotten Laurel was in the same room until she had heard her voice._

_The new nickname ‘Ollie’ Laurel used from time to time made Felicity cringe whenever she used it. The name just didn’t feel right to her._

_He was Oliver. He would always be Oliver to her._

_“Think fast!” Laurel had thrown a practice sword at Oliver and he had quickly caught it easily with one hand._

_“The loser cleans up the gym before we go,” Laurel had challenged him, pulling out another sword for herself from the shelf behind her._

_“Deal,” Oliver had said, changing his stance to a more offensive one._

_However, before the fight could even begin a guard had walked in, “Miss Laurel, Mr. Merlyn wants to see you.”_

_“Next time, Ollie.” Letting out an exasperated breath, Laurel had followed the guard, dropping the sword on the training mat on her way out._

_“Felicity, what do you say? The loser cleans the gym?” Oliver had asked, picking up Laurel’s sword from the floor._

_“It would be easier for both of us if I just agree to clean the gym today.” She had seen no point in going through all that trouble when she knew she was going to end up losing and cleaning the gym anyway._

_"Oh, come on.” He had winked and held one of the swords forward, inviting her to take it._

_Felicity had rolled her eyes, but she had failed to say no to his annoyingly handsome face._

_“Ugh! Ok. Let’s get this over with.” She had grabbed the sword from his hand, and had stood in a defensive stance. “I’m ready.” The fight had started right after her announcement._

_He had let her attack first, and had blocked each one of her blows with a smile on his face. “You’re not as bad as you think you are at this.” He had said, blocking another blow._

_She fixed her glasses and ran towards him to attack again, but he had just stepped aside and simply evaded her. The move had only left her feeling exhausted, and she had stopped in the middle of the mat to catch her breath._

_"You just need to think of the sword as a part of yourself. Don’t think of it as just a weapon.” He had walked around her in a circle, his eyes focused on her every little move._

_It had been more than a little unnerving to have his eyes solely on her and she had started to babble as a result, “I just don’t like swords. Or any pointy things in general… And fighting. Don’t like that either. Or doing anything physical. So you can say getting physical with a pointy thing of any kind is sort of my worst nightmare.”_

_“Ok. I’ll keep that in mind.” His hearty laugh had echoed in the room, and as much as she had wanted to just stand and study his beautiful face, she had used that moment to attack him._

_He hadn’t been prepared for her attack this time around, and she had managed to hit his arm hard. “Oh my God! Are you alright?” The practice swords were just as heavy as real ones, but they weren’t actually sharp enough to cut. Yet, she had known by experience that they hurt like hell._

_“I’m ok.” He had just shook his head and looked up at her. His eyes had been filled with an energy that hadn’t been there before — a cross between pride and... something she didn’t really understand._

_“I’m sorry?” Whatever it had been it had frightened her and she had taken a tentative step back to move away from him._

_He had stepped forward, gripping his sword with both his hands as though he was planning to strike the sword straight through her heart._

_She had moved backwards faster, until her back hit the shelf behind. “Ah!” she had yelled with her eyes shut as some of the arrows on the top shelf fell over her head._

_“I really really hate pointy things.” When she had eventually opened her eyes again, she had found Oliver standing right in front of her — his face inches away from hers and his arms on either side of her, trapping her between the shelf, and his body. She had known him almost her whole life, but this closeness had felt new and exciting, yet at the same time extremely confusing and nerve-racking._

_“Oliver?” Her sword had slipped from her hand, and dropped to the floor with a loud clunk._

_She hadn’t dared to think that Oliver was going to kiss her when his eyes had fallen to her lips, but she hadn’t been able to control her treacherous eyes that strayed to his parted lips or her treacherous heart that beat loudly in anticipation of a kiss._

_"Felicity, I—” Her eyes had fluttered closed automatically at the sound of his voice._

_"Hmm?” She had suddenly felt the need to melt into him and wrap herself around his warm body._

_"Felicity, there's—"_

_“Oliver…” She had wanted him to kiss her right then, take her right there._

_She had wanted to blame whatever she was feeling on her raging hormones, her adolescent brain, but it honestly felt like a need stemming from something deeper and more meaningful than that._

_"I… I’ll take the defeat.” With those words, his warmth, the closeness, it all had disappeared._

_“Hmm, what?” She had quickly opened her eyes. Her glasses had turned a little bit foggy, but she saw him standing a couple of feet away from her — eyes on the floor, and holding the sword defeatedly in his hand._

_Had that one strike she had gotten against him hurt his ego? Or had he realized that she had wanted him to kiss her and the thought had been so horrible that he had to stand so far away from her?_

_She had felt like an idiot for so unashamedly wanting him when he had probably just wanted to beat her at sword fighting and nothing more. Feeling like running away and hiding from him, she had quickly pushed herself away from the shelf. "Aw!"A sharp pain on her hip had made her stop and turn around._

_Somehow, one of the arrows had fallen to the second shelf and had ripped through her sweatpants, cutting her hip a little. There was a little bit of blood, but nothing to get too concerned over. “I told you, I hate pointy things,” she had laughed._

_“Felicity, Are you ok?I” Oliver was once again in front of her within a second, his hand on her hip trying to get a look at her cut. "I'm so sorry."_

_“It’s not your fault,” she had reassured him, pushing his hand away. Her body was still sensitive from whatever had happened or rather what she had thought was going to happen few seconds ago, and she had been afraid she would do something stupid if he were to touch her right then._

_“I’m the one who—”_

_“Believe me. It's not your fault.”_

_“Let’s go to the medbay,” he had suggested, pulling her from her hand._

_“Oliver, it’s not a big deal. Just get the first aid kit from there.” Shaking her head at how he was fussing over this little thing, she sat on a bench nearby._

_He had just stared at her for a few seconds before finally running off to fetch the first aid kit for her._

_“Thanks.” She had tried to take the med-kit into her hand, but he had refused to give it to her._

_Instead, he had sat beside her on the bench and lifted her t-shirt a little so that he could treat the cut. “Let me.” The sensation of his fingertips ghosting over her skin had made her shiver and she had looked away so that he wouldn't see just how affected she was by his touch._

_“Done,” he had said after covering it with a small bandage._

_"Thank you."_

_Even though he had said he was done, he hadn’t taken his hand off of her as he should have. “It’s going to leave a mark." He had simply let his fingers slowly, almost experimentally, travel along the waistline of her pants._

_"Oliver?” His ministrations had been confusing, but arousing just the same._

_He had quickly withdrawn his hand as if he had only then realized he had been keeping his hand too close to some kind of a burning flame. "I'm sorry."_

_“It’s not going to leave a mark! Even if it does, don’t worry about it. It’s nothing.”_

_“Are you sure you’re ok?”_

_"I am. I’ll always be ok... if you’re with me.” The reassuring smile she had flashed at him had finally helped him relax a little._

_“I will be.” His promise made her smile even wider._

_"Anyway, next time, just remember I don’t like swords.”_

_“You don’t like swords and any kind of pointy things or physical activities that involve pointy things. I’ll keep that in mind.” With a wink, he had repeated her words from earlier, and she had pouted at him in response._

_He had then pointed at her forehead with his index finger and smiled back. “I’ll also remember that your superpower is right here.”_

_“Yeah?” She had looked up at him excitedly._

_“Mm hmm. Your brain is your superpower.” He had just about gotten up from the bench when she had placed her hand over where his heart was. "Oliver.” His chest had been hot and sweaty as she had imagined it would be, but what had caught her attention the most was how much his heart had pounded under her touch. Maybe she had imagined it, but it felt as if his heart was beating as fast and loudly as hers — in sync with hers._

_“Hmm?” His gaze had dropped to her hand quickly._

_“Your super power is right here.”_

_"Yeah?” He had put his hand over hers and looked up at her, his eyes filled with warmth and hope._

_“Mm hmm” When she had tried to move her hand away from under his, he had squeezed her hand and stopped her._

_“Felicity, thank you.” The thank you and the smile hadn't felt as if they were just another thank you and a smile. They had felt like more — felt like he had wanted those words to mean more._

_It’d been at times like these that she’d been confused about what he truly thought of her. It’d been at times like these that she’d wondered whether he truly was in love with Laurel as she’d always thought._

 

* * *

 

“I see they’ve asked you to be here too.”

Hearing Laurel’s voice snapped Felicity out of her reverie. “I did sort of invent the brainwashing device,” she managed to say after quickly gathering herself.

“If you really think about it,” Laurel paused to sit in the empty seat next to her. “It’s almost poetic that it’s your own program that has made him forget you,” she said in a tone just above a whisper, making sure no one else in the room could hear her.

“I can see that the talk we had last time hasn’t affected you at all,” Felicity replied in an equally low voice. “But I can’t say I’m surprised.” She hadn’t really expected Laurel to change, but she had thought she would at least stay out of her way for a while.

“Did you really think your talk would scare me? That it would make me reflect on my life?” Laurel scoffed.

“It scared you enough to make you stay quiet about certain things, didn’t it?” Felicity smiled smugly.

“But—” Laurel opened her mouth to say something again, but was interrupted when two men in white coats and two guards escorted Oliver into the examination room.

While Felicity leaned forward in her chair to get a better look at Oliver and to see if he was alright, Laurel got up and took her reserved seat in the front row of the observation area.

"Sit!" The guard ordered Oliver, gesturing at one of the three chairs set up around the small table in the middle of the room.

She watched Oliver follow the orders without a word.

He was barefoot, and was dressed in a pair of gray pants and a t-shirt — typical attire required to be worn by ARGUS inmates. They had shaved his head, leaving only a thin layer of hair. It was probably to connect some of the monitoring devices easily to his head, but it made him appear dangerous and mysterious — very different from the Oliver she had seen just a few days ago. He looked more physically fit than he had been then, but she saw no life in his eyes. That light she was so used to seeing in them was gone. It was painful to see him like that. It was almost as if he was a mindless, soulless drone.

 _No!_ , she yelled internally.

She had hoped he would be able to fight the brainwashing process with the help of the bug she made, but it seemed as if it had failed. She blamed herself for not testing it thoroughly and for not setting it to turn off the display for longer than five minutes every half hour.

Tears formed in her eyes and she had to look away for a second to stop them from falling.

She couldn’t believe this was happening. No! She refused to believe it.

He had told her he wouldn’t let them erase his memories of her or make him forget about Alexa. She shouldn’t give up on him so easily. She wouldn’t.

He could be just pretending. He had to be.

“Let’s proceed” Laurel spoke into the microphone in front of her.

One of the guards left the room while the other one stationed himself behind Oliver.

The two men in white coats connected a polygraph machine on Oliver and set up other machines that monitored his heart rate, eyes, blood pressure and whatnot. Then they attached an ARGUS designed high tech brain monitoring device to his head. The helmet-like machine with wires and tiny blinking blue lights looked like something straight out of a science fiction movie. She had only seen a prototype of it before, and this was the first time she had seen the finished product, but she knew how accurate it could be. 

"What is this?" One agent first showed Oliver a pictures of an apple. She figured it had to be a baseline question that would be useful when analyzing polygraph data.

“What’s your name?” The young blonde agent asked Oliver, while the other took notes on his pad.

“I don’t remember,” Oliver shook his head.

Felicity quickly looked over at the monitors in front of her to see if they were able to capture any changes in brain activity, but there was nothing significant there.

He truly couldn't remember, she concluded.

Although they were taught to cheat under the most sophisticated of scanners and lie detectors, it was next to impossible to cheat this brain monitoring device. And cheating on a question such as this was even harder. A person’s name was something engraved into their brain from childhood. It wasn’t similar to lying about what they had for breakfast yesterday or lying about the color of their shoes and getting away with it.

As far as she knew it was next to impossible for his brain to not to react in someway to that question.

“Is your name Oliver?” the agent asked.

“I don’t know,” Oliver replied and she checked on the monitors again. There was nothing that indicated he was lying.

They asked him about things he had done in his childhood and even asked if he remembered Laurel. To her dismay, he didn’t remember any of it.

Her heart hurt every time he replied to a question with either “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember” and she was beginning to lose hope with each question that was being asked.

The next round of questioning checked his knowledge. It contained basic mathematical questions to complex calculations that would take hours for a person with a average IQ to solve, but Oliver completed them all quickly and with ease.

“Tell me the first thing that comes to your mind when I say these words.” The other, much older agent asked Oliver as the younger one sat back and observed.

“Ok,” Oliver nodded.

“Fire,” the agent said the first word.

“Destruction,” was Oliver’s answer.

“Stars,” the agent gave Oliver the next word.

“Future,” Oliver supplied without even taking a second to think and Felicity couldn’t help but think about that night, under the fake stars when he had jokingly said that if he ever had a daughter he would call her Alexandra.

“Book.”

“Knowledge.”

“House.”

“Family.”

“Water.”

“Rain.”

The agent continued to shoot random words at Oliver and he kept responding quickly. Neither did his expression ever change in response to any of the words, nor did she see any changes in the monitors the scientists in front of her were studying.

“Dress.”

“Red.” The red dress he had given her, and the way he had taken a photo of her in that dress flashed in her mind. Before she could wonder if it had anything to do with his answer, the agent had already moved on to the next word.

“Clock.”

“Time.”

“Pink.”

“Butterflies.” Her mind ran back to the little pink and purple butterflies that had been on the wall of her bedroom when she was young, but she tried not to think too much of it. She figured it had to be a coincidence since there was nothing on the scanned images of the brain that indicated he had connected the word ‘butterflies’ to a memory.

“Music.”

“Song.”

“Grass.”

“Green.”

“Blue.”

“Eyes.” He had blue eyes, but the way he said it — the softness she heard in his voice — made her feel as though he wasn’t thinking about his own eyes. It was probably presumptuous of her to think that he was thinking about her, about her eyes, but the tone he used now was the one he usually used with her when they were alone. However, the scanners didn’t seem to have captured the change she had heard in his voice, so she figured she could be wrong.

“Clouds.”

“Dreams.”

“Arrow.”

“Protection.” Felicity covered the bracelet on her wrist to quickly hide the charm hanging down from it. Protection was one of the words he had used to explain the meaning of the arrow charm he had given her. Even though the scanners didn’t manage to catch any clear changes, she was beginning to feel that she was not imagining the connection between some of his answers and her.

He had talked about naming his future daughter while looking at the stars, the red dress, the butterflies on the wall, blue eyes and now the word “protection” — she couldn’t just consider them as coincidences anymore. The devices monitoring him might be high-tech, and she too would have usually agreed with them, but right now she was willing to believe what her heart was saying more than any machine, or computer program.

“Sadness,” the agent continued.

“Loneliness.”

“Happiness.”

“Felicity.” Her heart stopped beating.

"Can you repeat the word?" the younger agent asked.

"Felicity." Oliver’s facial expression was still blank and showed no emotion, but everyone else was staring at him a little shocked.

Felicity's heart was beating at a rapid pace as she hastily glanced at the monitors. She could see a little glow in the scanned images of his brain — most prominently in the frontal cortex, the part of the brain where long-term memories were usually stored.

A deafening silence took over the observation room and she was afraid to look anywhere else, but at the monitors. All eyes in the observation room were on her. She could feel it even without looking. “It’s a synonym,” she mumbled, hoping they would just forget about it and continue with the experiment.

“Doctor Kim?” Laurel turned to the doctor analyzing his brain functions.

“It’s the first time I caught a significant change in his frontal cortex, but it’s still not that significant to say that he actually remembers anything.”

Felicity closed her eyes for a long second and opened them again, feeling relieved at hearing Dr. Kim’s assessment. As much as she wanted to know if he remembered her, she didn't want him to get caught in case he had been pretending to have lost his memories. Or worse for them to torture him again just because he remembered her name.

“But why this word? I mean, why is there a change in the scanner at all?” Laurel questioned.

“It could simply be the word happiness brought out the feeling of being happy in his past. It might not actually be attached to a particular memory, or a name but just—”

“Felicity. Stand up! You’re going in there with me,” Laurel shouted before Dr. Kim finished her explanation.

“Wait, what? Why?” Felicity stuttered.

Without giving her an explanation, Laurel ordered a guard there to make her stand up.

“Don’t!” Felicity glared warningly at the guard when she saw him approach her. He stopped at once, since she was a more senior officer than him. “I’ll go with you. No need for a guard.” She knew she had no other option anyway. They were going to drag her into that room no matter what.

“Let’s go then.” Laurel opened the door for her.

Felicity stepped outside tentatively and walked through the narrow hallway to get to the room they were testing Oliver in. Behind her, she could hear Laurel’s footsteps, but she didn't look behind in fear that Laurel would ask something about Oliver she didn’t want to answer.

“Move!” Laurel urged her to walk faster, but she moved at the same pace as before. She was in no hurry to go into that examination room and watch Oliver be questioned about her.

Laurel stopped in front of the large steel door that led to where Oliver was and pressed her index finger on the biometric scanner to open the door.

Felicity didn’t want to go in. She didn’t want to even think about what questions Laurel would ask and how Oliver would answer them.

“Don’t try to do anything funny. Remember I’m armed.” As a field agent, Laurel always carried a gun, but since Felicity wasn’t, they had taken her gun from her when she had entered the observation area today.

“I won’t hesitate to use it,” Laurel warned as she entered the room.

Felicity stepped inside after her, almost hiding behind her. She was scared to look at Oliver. Mostly because she was worried Oliver would look at her and she would somehow discover that this was no act as she had thought, and he truly could no longer remember her.

“All of you get out of here right now! I want to talk with him.” The agents went away at Laurel's orders.

The door closed, and the sound of its mechanical locks activating themselves made Felicity realize she was trapped. Laurel was going to cross-examine Oliver and she would have to sit and listen to him repeatedly say he didn't remember her. Whether it was an act or not, she knew it was going to hurt her.

As Laurel walked towards where Oliver sat, Felicity finally stepped away from her shadow, and looked up at him. He was just staring at Laurel without any real expression on his face.

“Let’s get to the point straight away.” Laurel sat in the chair where one of the agents had previously been sitting and invited Felicity to sit next to her. Fiddling with her bracelet, Felicity sat down, but unlike earlier, now she was unable to take her eyes away from Oliver. He hadn’t looked her way even once since she had looked at him and it bothered her even though she knew he could just be avoiding her on purpose so that he wouldn't somehow get caught.

“What’s your name?” Laurel asked Oliver.

“I don’t know.” He was as cold and emotionless as he had been earlier.

Laurel looked at the camera set up on the wall behind her as though to make sure the people observing this conversation were paying close attention.

“Do you know who I am?” she asked.

“No.”

If Laurel was hurt by Oliver's answer she didn't show it, but Felicity felt the speed at which she turned towards the camera once again was her way of avoiding the situation more than anything.

 _”No change,”_ Dr. Kim’s voice came through the speakers next to the glass wall, which from inside the room looked just like a simple mirror.

“Do you know her?” Laurel pointed at Felicity and he finally looked at her. His expression showed no change, but Felicity thought she saw him flick his index finger against his thumb. She hoped the body language experts that were keeping an eye on everything wouldn’t think much of it.

"No.” He turned back to Laurel.

Felicity hadn’t expected him to say anything other than ‘No’. She had stepped inside the room knowing this was going to happen and she was going to get her heart crushed, yet she hadn't been prepared or known how deeply it would pain her to hear him say it out loud.

 _“There’s some change, but inconclusive,”_ Dr. Kim said.

“Her name is Felicity. Do you know her?” Laurel was already losing her patience, Felicity could hear it in her voice.

Oliver glanced at her again and turned his eyes back to Laurel before replying. “I don’t remember her.”

Once again her heart ached at his words and she fisted her hands to control the urge to cry.

 _“Not enough change. Inconclusive,”_ Dr. Kim gave her opinion.

“What’s the first word that comes to your mind when you look at her?”

He didn’t look at her this time, but just answered the question. “Cherries.”

“Cherries? Why cherries?” Laurel asked the same question that popped into Felicity’s mind. She couldn’t understand what she had to do with cherries.

He shook his head and looked down at the table as if he too was trying hard to understand why he had blurted out that word. “I don’t know,” he replied almost inaudibly.

Felicity bit her lower lip in disappointment that she didn't get an explanation, but right then his eyes flickered to her lips as though he had just found the answer he had been looking for.

The cherry lip gloss she tasted on her lips made her wonder if he had referred to that taste. She blinked at him as she tried to ascertain if it truly could be that — if it was because he remembered the taste of her lip gloss — if it was because he remembered their kiss.

She didn’t know what it meant if it was so. She didn’t know whether it meant he truly did still remember her like she had been guessing or if he just remembered their kiss because it had happened so recently.

 _“Still Inconclusive,”_ was Dr. Kim’s assessment of his answer.

It puzzled her. If he wasn't acting why was there still somewhat notable change in the brain activity? And if he was acting how was he able to fool the brain scanner? Sure, there was some change, but it was not enough to prove anything.

“Do you love her?”

Felicity’s eyes snapped to Oliver at Laurel’s question and her whole body froze in shock when she saw him already staring at her.

“Answer the question!” Laurel demanded.

“I don’t remember how it should feel.”

His answer felt worse than him saying he didn’t love her. Pretending or not, listening to him say he had forgotten how love felt, sent a chill down her spine. It made her wonder whether whatever little signal that showed up on the monitors were just as insignificant as Dr. Kim had said. What if the machines had been right all along and her heart was simply seeing what it wanted to see?

 _”The data is not strong enough to say he remembers anything clearly,”_ Dr. Kim once again  informed them.

“Very well.” Laurel got to her feet and ran her eyes over Oliver as if to assess herself if he was just pretending to not remember.

"Tomorrow... We’ll have to do more tests to make sure.” She then let out a sigh and pulled off all the wires and machines connected to him, including the helmet-like scanner on his head.

“Let’s go.”

Felicity got up to follow her, but not before casting one more glance at Oliver. He was staring at his hands, his brow furrowed and jaws ticking. The determination not to look up at her was evident, just as his need to look up at her was.

He remembered. He had to, she concluded with a faint smile, and turned around to go. It felt strange to leave without saying goodbye to him — just walking away as though it didn’t break her heart to leave him there to be mentally tortured with some more tests tomorrow morning.

"You coming?" Laurel had already stepped out of the room when Felicity heard something heavy fall to the floor. She looked back to see what it was and found one of the notepads on the table had fallen to the floor next to Oliver’s feet. Her eyes drifted up from the floor to Oliver’s face and she stood taken aback by the sparkle she saw in his eyes. The light, the sign of recognition she had been searching for all this while was there now.

Before she could understand what had brought that light back into his eyes and before she could even think of what was happening, the door behind her closed with a bang and the lights went off. She heard another bang and she figured it had to be the steel cover that usually fell over the glass to make sure whoever was inside didn’t use the opportunity to escape by breaking through the glass. It wasn't easy to break, but it was a security measure that was applied to all such walls in the building.

“What's going on?" She couldn’t even see her own hand and feet as she felt her way through the darkness in search of the door.

Her heart was telling her to find her way towards Oliver, now that no one could see them. However, not only would it be risky, she also didn’t know what she should do when she found Oliver. Should she ask him if he really was pretending? What if he said no?

Right when her hand came in contact with the door someone grabbed her by her hips. She screeched in surprise, but she wasn’t really afraid when those hands turned her around so she was standing with her back resting against the cold steel door.

“It’s me Oliver.” He covered her mouth with his hand to stop her from yelling again. “You should be more aware of your surroundings. I thought we all had training a long time ago.”

She couldn’t see his face, but she knew he was smiling.

“The room is sound proof,” her words came out as muffled noises since his hand was still covering her mouth.

“Oh?” He quickly took his hand away and placed it on her waist instead.

“How did you—”

“How did I fool the machines?”

She hummed a yes.

“I lived in a temple in Tibet for a few months in the five years I was away, and I—”

“Meditation?” She had read meditation could be used to control one’s mind and thoughts, but she didn’t know it could be done to such an extent. She figured being a genius, it probably had been easier for him to grasp the techniques so easily. In any case Oliver also had the innate ability to focus and learn new things faster than anyone she knew.

“Yeah,” he replied.

“But how did you turn the electricity off just now?”

“Damyan,” Oliver replied. “He doesn’t know how to shut down the power with computers, but he knows how to cut off a few wires to cut the power to this section of the building and physically damage the generators so that they won’t be turned on for a little while.”

“But they’ll be here soon.” The doors needed electricity to function, but she had no doubt Laurel and the others were trying to break in through the door somehow right now.

“It will take them seven minutes to fix the wires, five to break through that door, four and a half to break that glass and that steel cover, and three and a half minutes to fix the generators. In short, we have another two and a half minutes left.”

“I know. I was the one that gave you the blueprints to the building with all vulnerabilities marked. Remember?” She rolled her eyes at him even though she knew he couldn’t see her.

“If I hadn’t been a genius, I wouldn’t have been able to study all of that in such a short time.”

She scoffed at his smugness. “When did you plan all of this?”

“Yesterday, when they told me they were going to bring me here.”

“How did you know they’d let me come in here?” They never had a plan to bring her down there. She wouldn’t have been here if there hadn’t been some changes in the monitors and Laurel hadn’t insisted she should.

“I just knew,” he whispered into her ear, gripping her hips a little harder. Her breath hitched and suddenly she realized that they were both alone in the dark and he was standing very close to her. So close that she could feel his cool breath fall on her face. So close she could feel the warmth of his body seeping through the material of her clothes. So close that she wanted to lean a little bit closer so that she could kiss him again.

“I knew they would bring you to test me.”

His low seductive voice awakening sensations she didn't know existed.

She took a deep breath and tried to hold onto the door behind her to control herself. “But why did you go through all of this?”

“To let you know I’m alright.” The minty, musky smell she had recognized as him, surrounded her, urging her that much more to kiss him. The moment felt so similar to that night at the gym, where she had almost kissed him.

Unconsciously her hands came up to grab him by the collar of his t-shirt. “This is such a big risk, Oliver. Couldn’t you have given the message to Damyan to pass it along?” She found herself moving closer to him, searching for his lips in the darkness.

“So many questions.” She heard him chuckle right before she felt his nose touch hers. “But you wouldn’t be you, if you didn’t ask so many questions.” He laughed again, his cool breath tickling her ear.

“I probably could have sent the message through Damyan.” He pushed himself little bit closer to her. She could now feel the whole length of his body against her.

“But… but then I wouldn’t have been able to do this.” He clasped both her wrists in a mean grip with one hand and placed them over her head before catching her lips in a passionate, powerful kiss.

She parted her lips without hesitation, letting him deepen the kiss as he wished. She wanted to dig her nails into his back and pull him towards her, but he didn’t let her hands go.

“Hmm...” A soft moan escaped her as his free hand slowly slipped down her hip and pulled her closer to him.

As much as she wanted to touch him, she felt that there was something more arousing about giving up all control — there was something about letting him take her the way he wanted — so passionately, so lustfully. It was some kind of sweet torture she hadn’t felt before and she loved it and hated it at the same time.

“Ah!” she gasped when he suddenly pulled away from the kiss.

“Now we’re even.” He bit her earlobe playfully, and stepped away, leaving her all alone in the darkness.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Her hands reached out into the darkness to find him, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Meet me on the 15th floor at midnight in two days. Someone will tell you what you have to do," she heard him say from a distance.

A second or two later, when the lights flickered on she found herself leaning against the door feeling lonely and breathless. Her eyes quickly searched the room for Oliver. He was simply sitting in his chair staring at his hands as though nothing had happened. She put her a hand over one of her blushing cheeks and licked her lips that were still wet from the kiss.

She ran her forearm across her lips just to make sure any visible signs of their kiss were erased and checked his face to make sure there was no sign of cherry lip gloss on him. He was lucky that she hadn’t worn any lipstick and just a very light coat of lip gloss today, she thought with a smile.

Otherwise the lipstick stains would’ve given them away easily. The kiss would’ve ruined everything they were planning to do.

 _“Now we’re even.”_ Those last words he had whispered made her smile disappear.

What could those words possibly mean? Had he kissed her because he wanted to, or to punish her for kissing him against his will a few days ago?

She was abruptly pushed forward and thrown into the center of the room when someone opened the door.

Laurel came in and looked back and forth between them. “What the hell happened?”

Felicity shrugged and just walked out without saying anything.

Just as she exited she saw three guards escorting a handcuffed Damyan away.

Why hadn’t Damyan asked for her help? She would have done something to make sure he wasn’t caught. She wanted to help him some way for everything he had done to help Oliver and her, but she didn’t know what to do now. She knew ARGUS wouldn’t stop torturing him until he divulged why he had done what he had done, and she also knew as a man of Bratva, as a man who was so loyal to Oliver, Damyan wouldn’t say a word even if he died. 

She closed her eyes for a moment and silently prayed for Damyan's safety.

“Security caught him damaging the generators.” Laurel eyed her with suspicion as she offered her explanation.

Felicity didn’t react to it in any way. She knew even the slightest interest on the topic would only serve to raise more suspicion. So she silently walked towards the observation area by herself, worrying about Oliver and Alexa.

Another day had gone by and she was becoming more and more nervous about this plan to free Alexa. She knew it would take far more planning to get Alexa free than to visit Oliver in his cell for five minutes or cutting the power supply off so that he could talk to her alone today. Oliver's men were certainly helpful, but what happened today proved that they were not equipped to handle ARGUS security without her help. They had no technical expertise. Precisely why Oliver had said he needed her there.

 

* * *

 

 

Oliver was thrown into his new cell on the third floor. "This will be your new home," one of the guards said as he closed the door.

Oliver had thought today they would put him back into a glass room similar to the one he had spend his whole childhood in, but instead they had locked him up in another padded cell. He suspected it might have something to do with those insignificant yet apparent changes in the scans they found that made them decide to lock him up in another cell.

At least they didn’t chain him up this time, Oliver thought, lying down on the small bed in the corner of the cell.

He closed his eyes the moment his head the pillow. Today had been a grueling day — more mentally than physically.

They had tested him for hours. The only good that had come out of it was getting a chance to see and talk to Felicity.

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he reminisced on the little stunt he had pulled with Damyan's help.

There were so many things he had wanted to ask her. He had wanted to know if she had heard what he had said last time — if she had heard him say 'I love you'. However he hadn't wanted to repeat it in the dark. He wanted to see her face when he would say it again. That said, his brain hadn't functioned properly at that moment for him to actually think about saying those three very important words to her.

Being alone in a room with her after dreaming about her for days as he fought the brainwashing machine seemed to have created a craving for her cherry sweet lips he couldn't explain. He hadn't even realized it until he had blurted the word 'cherries', when he was asked what was the first thing that came to his mind when he thought of her. He had thought it was strange and it hadn't made any sense to him at first — not until he had seen her bite her lip.

So when he had finally gotten the chance to talk to her alone, he hadn't been able to just stop himself from kissing her. The deeper he had kissed her, the more the craving for her lips, her touch, for her had grown. The closer he had gotten to her, the closer he had wanted to be.

Even though he would have done anything to see how her face had looked when he had grabbed her by her hips — even though he would have done anything to see how deep she had blushed at that moment right before he kissed her, he had to admit the darkness made the kiss somewhat fun, somewhat hotter, somewhat exciting.

Being able to simply feel her, touch her, hear her breathing, and smell nothing but the light floral scent of her perfume was an experience he had never thought he would want so much until it had happened.

When he had — with the help of another one of his allies — passed along the message to Damyan explaining his plan, he hadn’t thought he would end up kissing her the way he had — end up having his revenge for that first kiss. That hadn’t been a part of the plan.

He had just wanted to meet her and tell her that he was alright, because he knew she wouldn't be able to sleep well until she heard him say that he was. So he had come up with an elaborate plan just for that — just to let her know he was ok.

It may have been crazy, and risky, but it was worth it when he was finally able to talk to her after three days.

He knew there was a chance that Damyan was going to get caught, but he had been the one who had in fact insisted he would do it himself.

Oliver knew Damyan was more than capable of taking care of himself. He had seen the man come out a survivor from far worse situations. Still, he hoped he was alright.

He hadn't heard any news from him after the plan was executed, however he hoped to rescue Damyan along with Alexa if he actually had been caught by the guards. He would never leave any man behind and he knew ARGUS wouldn’t kill Damyan as long as he didn't say anything about why he cut those wires. He would be useful to them as long as he had something they needed. Thus, for Damyan’s sake, he hoped they would never find out the connection between him and Bratva.

He hoped for Alexa's and Felicity's sake that ARGUS would never find out there were more Bratva men working undercover there and he was planning to run away with his love and his daughter in another two days’ time.


	7. April 8th 2016

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone sorry I took a long time to update. 
> 
> I should warn you it's a very long chapter. I don't usually write long chapters, but hopefully you won't fall asleep reading it or anything.
> 
> I didn't use a beta. But I will soon. 
> 
> Huge thanks to victoria for the story cover
> 
> Hope you enjoy it.

**_April 8th 2016_ **

Felicity quickly unfolded the little note Oliver had sent to her yesterday through another one of his Bratva friends. The note consisted of all the cameras, alarms and whatnot she needed to hack before setting out to meet him on the 15th floor. From that list alone she had managed to get a fair idea about how he might be planning to rescue Alexa, yet she didn't know all the details to get the complete picture.

She skimmed through the note several times to check if she had missed anything even though she had memorized every word on there.

Then once she was finally satisfied that she had done everything on the note, she put it back in her pocket.

It was time now, — time for her to go get her daughter.  She took a deep breath, adjusted her glasses and looked around before stepping into the elevator.

There had been four guards appointed to keep an eye on the IT division tonight, but she had already knocked all four of them out cold, and then locked them up in one of the labs before running out of there.

Although her fight with the guards had taken place minutes before, the adrenaline rush she had gotten from the fight didn’t seem as if it had worn off yet.  Her heart was still beating a bit fast and hands were still shaking a little.

She pressed the button to the 15th floor, but she was so on edge she had to push it several times just to get it to work.

 _“You just need to think of the sword as a part of yourself. Don’t think of it as just a weapon.”  She had heard those calming words Oliver had muttered years ago in her head as she fought off the guards using one of their batons. While his words had egged her on to defeat those guards, his voice had reminded her for whom and why she was doing all of thi_ s.

The elevator doors closed with a soft thud jolting her out of her thoughts.

Her eyes ran to her watch and then to the elevator number display on top of the doors.  It felt as if it was taking forever to move from one floor to the other. There were just 5 minutes left to midnight, and she needed to reach the 15th floor by then. She believed it was critical for her to get there on time since as far as she understood one second lost could possibly ruin their whole plan to escape.

To be honest it was almost a miracle she had managed to get into the elevator at all. When she had requested permission to stay in the IT division until midnight —  saying she had to complete one of many urgent projects assigned to her —  Laurel hadn’t seemed so convinced that she was telling the truth. The fellow genius had insisted that she get permission from Malcolm Merlyn himself.

So Felicity had gone and talked to Malcolm as told — all the while thinking he was not going to fall for her lies.

Surprisingly, after giving it a lot of thought he had granted her the permission to stay and complete her work. It seemed he had been in a hurry to complete the new projects, and it thankfully had worked out to her advantage.

 _5, 6, 7_ She frowned at the floor number display as she adjusted the straps on the little backpack she was carrying.

 _8, 9, 10_ The floor numbers went up too slowly for her liking.

* * *

 

_“11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, Felicity! Are you done yet?” A young Oliver had asked._

_She had delved into another one of their childhood memories, maybe in hopes of finding a way to get her mind off of the elevator that seemed to be barely moving._

_“Felicity, can I open my eyes now?”_

_“No!” She had been doing the final touches on Oliver’s birthday card when he had walked into her room, so she had ordered him to quickly close his eyes and count to hundred until she was done._

_“30, 31, 32, 33,” He had continued to count behind her as she quickly colored the large tree she had drawn in the center._

_Oliver had given her the most wonderful card on her birthday, and she had wanted to give something as good as that. To her four year old mind, a birthday card with a beautiful three tier cake and a picture of an all-grown-up Oliver standing in the middle of all the things he loved, had felt like the most perfect gift._

_“98, 99, 100!”  When he had come rushing over to her to check on the card, she had turned around to him hiding the card behind her back._

_“I don’t know if you’ll like it.” Her small card had been nothing compared to the one he had made for her on her birthday. So she had taken a step back feeling insecure. She had been better at drawing than an average four year old, but she was still younger than Oliver and had less control over the pencils than him._

_“I’m sure I will.” Oliver had tried to snatch it from her hand, but she had moved further away from him._   _“Stop being silly, Felicity! I love your drawings and you know that.”_

_It was true. He had loved every drawing she had ever made. Especially the one she had drawn of the two of them playing on a beach._

_“Ok, then. Here you go. Happy Birthday, Oliver.”  She had finally handed it over, tucking her lower lip between her teeth and blinking her eyes in nervous anticipation to hear his comments._

_“Wow!”  Looking at the wide smile that spread across his face she had felt her confidence slowly returning._

_“This is you. Nine years old.” She had pointed at the picture and begun to explain. “All grown up and going to help people… Because you said you like helping people. And I also drew you a house. Because you need a house when you grow up.”  At that age even though she was a four year old genius, and she technically knew about how days and years worked — how the world turned on its axis gravitating around the world — concept of growing up and becoming an adult had been harder to grasp. Thus she had thought  when someone was nine years old they were almost a fully grown person. Also the fact that Oliver had grown so much taller since she had first seen him also had her convinced that he was soon going to get a job and a house like all the other adults did._

_“This is great Felicity!”_

_“Yeah?”_

_“Yeah. You’ve drawn almost everything I love!” He had said excitedly, eyes twinkling blue._

_“Do you even like the big people bag I drew? It’s just like Walter’s, but I colored it in your favorite color —  Green.” She had pointed at the big green brief case she had drawn somewhat to the left of his picture._

_“I love it. I love everything. The bicycle, the red car, the dog, and the horse… the bows and arrows. I love everything.”_

_Jumping up and down in joy, she had looked over at her doll that had been sleeping on the bed. “He loves it Molly!”_

_“But, it’s missing one important thing, Felicity.”_

_“Oh?” Her smile had quickly vanished with those words. She looked over at the picture scratching her head trying to think what she could have missed. She had been so sure she had drawn everything he loved._

_“Wait.” Without saying anything much Oliver had sat on her bed and had started to draw something._

_When she had tried to see what he was doing he had covered it with his hand. “Close your eyes, and count to 100 until I finish.” He had said the same thing she had told him earlier._

_"But I'm too little to count to 100." She had made a face._

_"Don't lie. You can count as well as I do." He had frowned, reminding her that he knew she was a genius and pretending to not know wouldn't work with him._

_Pouting she had sat next to him and had covered her eyes with her hands. “1, 2, 3, 4…” As she counted she had tried to imagine what he could be drawing._

_Another car? A cat? A plane?_

_“87, 88, 89!” The curiosity had gotten the better of her and she had tried to sneak a peek between her fingers._

_“Fe-li-ci-ty! Don’t cheat!”  Oliver had caught her before she could see anything._

_“I’m not!” She had quickly looked away from the card. “90,  91, 92...”_

_“Ok. Ok. You don’t have to count anymore. I’m done.” He had removed her hands from her face and pushed the card into her hand._

_It had only taken her one glance to spot that little blonde haired girl he had drawn right next to his own picture. “Is that — “ Running a finger over the big pink bows he had drawn on the girl’s red dress, she had wondered if it could be her._

_“Yes, that’s you. We’ll both live in that big house and we’ll both help people… Together."_

_“You're silly, Oliver. Only mommies and daddies live in the same house after growing up. My daddy didn’t live with mama, Molly and me, but I know other daddies do. And I’m not even nine like you yet.” As much as she loved the idea of helping people together with Oliver and as smart as she was she couldn’t understand why he had wanted her on his birthday card and for her to live in his house._

_“You’ll be nine one day, and mommies and daddies are also friends. We’re also friends. Best friends. Forever and Always kind. And this house is too big for just me.” His logic hadn’t really made that much sense to her. She doubted it made any sense to him either, but for some reason she had liked it and had wanted to accept it._

_“Yeah?”_

_“Yeah”_

_He had blushed hard when she had kissed his cheek and wished him a happy birthday again._

_“’I’ll never forget this birthday.”  He had promised her with a big smile on his face._

* * *

 

Back then she had never given much thought to the fact that he had implied that he wanted her to be a part of his life forever. Even now she wasn’t so sure if she should take the words of a nine year old boy so seriously. Nonetheless, with everything that had been going on — the way he had replied when he was being interrogated, and the kiss they shared in the dark —  was making her wonder whether it would be so wrong to think that the nine year old Oliver had meant every word he had said that day.

Then again, what did he mean when he had said, “ _We’re even now,”_ right after kissing her? Did that mean it was just some silly game to him?

The elevator stopped suddenly with a jerk before it reached the 15th floor.

“Oh, Frack!” Felicity instinctively pulled her gun out from under her jacket while manically pressing the button to the 15th floor to somehow get it working again.

However, the elevator didn't budge. The doors never opened and no one walked in as she feared. Instead she heard something, or rather someone move about on the roof of the elevator.

She didn’t know what to expect, but she guessed it could be Oliver or one of his men, as she couldn’t see what an ARGUS agent would be doing up there. Nevertheless she kept her gun aimed towards the little hatch on the roof.

“Don’t shoot! It’s me Oliver.” He whispered as he opened the hatch.

“Oliver? I thought you said to meet you at the 15th floor!” She whisper yelled, stepping under the opening on the roof.

“There’s been a slight change in plans." He was dressed in all black and it seemed as if he was heavily armed. She didn’t know how he was able get those clothes and weapons, but she suspected that it might have something to do with his loyal Bratva members.

"I realized there’s a safer way to get to where I want to go.” he explained.

“I’m assuming you want to go to Dr. Wells’ lab?” She asked, putting the gun back into the holster.

“You figured it out? ” He said slowly leaning in through the hatch.

“Honestly even though I don't know all the details, your main goal is pretty obvious. Dr Wells is in the 15th floor. He's in charge of Alexa. The lock to Alexa's room can only be opened with two passwords. One to access the lock interface and the other should be said, in a voice of a person who is authorized to access the room. So you probably want to go there to get the first password and then get a voice clip of him saying the 2nd password. Then maybe you also want to get all and any information he has on Alexa on his computers transferred to my tab before erasing them permanently from his computers. You know, I would’ve guessed all of it even if I wasn't a genius.” Felicity smirked.

She had little by little —  without drawing too much attention to herself —  already copied and removed almost all information on Alexa from most ARGUS labs. However as the leading scientist that looked over every test Alexa was subject to, she knew Dr. Wells had the most recent and important info about her on his computers, but since those computers were mostly offline she hadn’t been able to access them. She had no way of downloading or erasing those data unless she was able to physically access them.

If she had the same access to the manpower Oliver had or if she had known who his allies inside ARGUS were, she probably could have come up with a plan of her own to rescue Oliver and Alexa, and get the info they needed.

“Ok Felicity, give me your hand now.” From Oliver's impatient tone it seemed as if he had been waiting with his arm extended for a long time while she had babbled away in high speed.

“Don’t drop me.” She demanded before grabbing his hand.

“Don’t you trust me?” He asked as he slowly pulled her up, and she glared at him.

“Do you even need to ask me that?”

“Then you don’t need to tell me to not to drop you either.” He tugged her all the way up, and somehow the momentum made him tumble backwards on the roof of the elevator, with her falling on top of him.

“Oh!” He grunted when she knocked her head against his chest.

“Oof!” It probably wasn’t the time to be impressed by the hardness of his muscles she felt rippling beneath her, but she was — she was very impressed. “Hi.” She looked up at him smiling cheekily.

“Hi.” He mimicked her tone, donning a Cheshire grin and adjusting her glasses that had gone askew.

“How … how did you escape? Aren’t they looking for you?” Her eyes automatically fell to his lips. Despite the situation she felt tempted to kiss him. The memory of him kissing her in the dark wasn’t helping her either. That kiss had been so intense and passionate, she just wanted to see if it would feel the same way if he were to kiss her again.

“My friends helped and there’s an unconscious guard taking my place in my cell right now.” He licked his lips and cupped her cheeks as though he was going to pull her in for a kiss.

Her heart beat so loudly, she was sure it was echoing in the hollow concrete space there were in.

“That’s good.” She gulped suddenly realizing that they both could see each other better this time. There was no Head Mounted Display covering his eyes, and the elevator shaft was not quite as dark there as it had been in the interrogation room.

 _“We’re even now.”_ she was once again reminded of what he had said after that kiss in the dark.

“Ugh!” Not knowing what he had meant that day was frustrating, confusing. “Oliver, we should — “

He pressed his lips against hers, cutting her off mid-sentence.

Her breath hitched and it took her a second to realize what was happening, but when she did, she gave into it completely — parting her lips in invitation,  eyes closing involuntarily and hands roaming up and down his arms, over the smooth material of his Henley.

The kiss was softer and didn’t last long as their last one, but it certainly left her feeling hungry for more as soon as her lips lost contact with his.

“Felicity,” he said, running a thumb along her bottom lip.

She moaned needily, bunching his t-shirt in her hands to control her urge to seek his lips again. “You know we have a lot to talk about.” She mumbled breathlessly as she opened her eyes.

“We do and we will.” It felt as if he was making a much deeper and a meaningful promise to her than the words meant.

She smiled at him, but rather than smiling back he gazed at her silently. A warmth spread from her chest to the tip of her fingers and toes, watching his eyes grow dark and intense.

His mouth opened as though to say something and she stared at his lips almost transfixed, secretly wishing he would kiss her again.

“Капитан, простите, что перебиваю. Мы должны идти, прежде чем охранники изменить сдвиги. Наш человек только там еще пятнадцать минут” _[Captain, forgive me for interrupting. We have to go before guards change shifts. Our man is only there for another fifteen minutes.]_

The unknown voice broke them both out from their trance. Up until the moment Oliver’s friend had talked Felicity hadn’t realized that they weren’t alone in that elevator roof. In fact, when she turned around to the voice, she saw not just one, but three men wearing security uniforms standing on the concrete beams behind them.

She put a hand on Oliver’s chest for support and quickly got to her feet, fixing her coat and pants.

Oliver got up and positioned himself right beside her. “Вы двое идут на 5-м этаже, и Николай вы идете на первом этаже и делать все необходимое, чтобы убедиться, что путь свободен для нас, чтобы уйти. Мы встретимся там, как и планировалось. И называть Рэдли сейчас и скажи ему, чтобы включить питание снова, так что вы можете использовать лифт.” _[You two go to the 5th floor, and Nikolai you go to the ground floor and do whatever is necessary to make sure the path is clear for us to escape. We’ll meet you there as planned. And call Radley now and tell him to turn the power back on so you can use the elevator.]_

“Yes, Kapitan.” Nikolai replied and jumped into the elevator through the opened hatch.

“Мы будем ждать вас там Капитан.”[ _We will wait for you there Kapitan._ ] The other two followed their friend’s lead.

“Oliver, we need to help Damyan too. He got caught trying to help us.” Felicity tugged from Oliver’s sleeve to get his attention.

“I know. The others told me. Don’t worry. I never leave my men behind. I've already given instructions to one of my men to break him out.” Oliver closed the hatch and guided her away from the elevator by her hand.

From what she knew even though Bratva had their own rules and codes of honor, as a Kapitan he was in no way obliged to rescue Damyan. So she felt an immense sense of pride at his words and it became clearer as to why his men were so loyal to him.

“Here.” He helped her onto a concrete beam and kicked on the roof of the elevator with the toe of his boot to let the other three men know they can now take off.

Few seconds later the elevator descended.

“Don’t let my hand go.” Oliver muttered as he scanned the area as if he was assessing something.

“I won’t,” she said trying not to think about how easily she could meet her death at the bottom of the building if she were to let go.

“Good.” Smiling to himself for some reason, he stood on his tiptoes and reached up with his free hand to get something he had obviously planted on the concrete beam above them.

For that brief moment as she stood there studying his smile, she forgot she was standing on a half a feet wide concrete beam more than 150 ft above ground. She forgot how dangerous this mission was and how easily they all could get caught. It was just like it had always been. His mere presence calmed her and she felt as if nothing could harm her if he was there with her.

“Don’t look down, Felicity.”

It was then she saw what he had in his hand. “A grappling hook arrow? Don’t tell me we’re going to swing across to the other side.”  She unconsciously looked down at what looked like a bottomless pit and her head began to spin.

“Ok then I won’t tell you that we're going to swing to the 15th floor using this.” He winked at her and aimed a grappling hook to a ledge on the floor above them.

She held onto Oliver’s hand even more firmly. “Uhm… Oliver? This is what you call a safer way to get to the 15th floor? I don’t know if you remember, but I’m a little scared of heights. Ok I’ll admit, not a little. Kind of a lot. I don’t even know how I got down from Hub CIty Grand that night. In my defense, there were just 8 floor not 14. But I was afraid of heights even when I was small. I’ve always been afraid heights.” Babbling endlessly, she set her eyes on Oliver hoping he would say or do something to help her calm her nerves.

“I remember.”

“Yeah?”

He shot the arrow and turned to look at her. He seemed as if he was caught off guard to find her staring back at him. His eyes strayed to her lips and then back to her eyes. “Yeah. I remember everything — every little thing about you.”

The intensity of his gaze kept her eyes locked to his — made her breathe a little heavily and made her chest feel heavier with something she was at that moment inept to describe.

“Felicity.”

“Hmm?”

He kissed her. Just a feather light peck, but she closed her eyes to savor the feeling, the tenderness of his lips.

“I love you.”

Her eyes snapped open at his confession. It was so unexpected that she wasn’t sure how to respond. True she had already opted to believe he had said those words at the cell that day, but to actually hear him utter those words so clearly was something else altogether.

“Oliver I— “

Without saying anything more he stole another quick kiss from her lips, leaving her to simply stare at him dazed.

“Hold onto me tight.” His low gritty voice made her stomach flutter. She opened her mouth to say, how she had imagined him saying those words under different circumstances, but before she could get the words out he had already wrapped his arm around her waist and swung themselves up to the 15th floor.

She squeezed her eyes shut and tucked her lips in to stop herself from screaming.

“You Ok?”

She opened one eye first and then the other. “Yup… yeah.” She wasn’t quite sure if the lightness in her head and the weightlessness she felt in her body was all due to the fact that they had just swung across a 15ft gap using a very thin piece of code or because she still hadn’t recovered from hearing the man she loved for years finally say in actual words that he loved her.

“Are you sure you’re ok?” He frowned.

“No. I’m not sure.”

“What? Are you hurt?” He gently turned her arms over and checked for injuries.

“No. I’m not hurt.” She shook her head.

“What’s wrong then?”

“Nothing’s wrong. Everything is finally right.” She stared into his eyes for a couple of long seconds and thought about all those times she had gazed into those sea blue eyes and wondered if he would ever love her the way she did. She wondered when he might have fallen in love with her. Was it a recent discovery? Or had he been in love with her for a while?

“Felicity?”

“I love you.” She watched his face mirror the happiness she felt in her heart. She had missed his expression the other two times she had confessed her feelings to him.  “I’ve always loved you.” She touched his lips with her own and drew away just in time to catch his face turn red — the same deep red it had always turned to whenever she had kissed his cheek when they were young.  

This was not how she had imagined things would go, where this would happen— certainly not while standing on some kind of a concrete ledge in an elevator shaft. Yet, it was unique she felt, just like the two of them, and the unique lives they’ve led. She could even see herself telling a sugar coated version of their escape to their baby girl Alexa one day, and she could imagine how her daughter’s eyes would light up when she would tell her that she played a big part in getting her parents together.

Somewhat soft, and a continuous vibrating sound coming from close by dragged her down to reality. "What is it?" She grumbled.

“Shit!” He was clearly disappointed and annoyed as she was at the fact that the moment had to end so abruptly as it did. “We need to move!"  He pressed a button on his watch to stop the sound without dropping her hand. From the Russian letters on the face of the watch, she assumed it was something he had once again gotten from his Bratva brothers.

“The others have set up time bombs in archives and other research labs so they won’t be able to do what they did to us again. Bombs won't be enough to destroy the whole building, but it’s better if we get out of here before they go off.”

She nodded and looked around. Only then she realized that they were both in some sort of an alcove.  She had noticed it in the blueprints before and she realized the vent there would lead them to a hallway closer to Dr. Wells’ lab. This truly would be safer, she thought. Mostly since they wouldn’t come across that many guards as they would have if they had used the elevator.

“What’s in that?” she asked noticing a duffle bag in the corner of the small space.

He kissed her wrist, over her bracelet as if it was something he had been doing his whole life. “The blue prints, and a few more important equipments Diggle sent me.” He gently let her hand go so that he could go get the dufflebag.

“Put this on quickly.” He took a baby carrier out of the bag and handed it to her.  “I’m leaving the duffle bag here, but I'm not sure we would be coming this way again. And I don’t think the carrier will fit in your backpack. So you'll have to wear it now.”

She inspected the carrier closely, wondering if it was safe enough.

"It’s made of Kevlar. Don't worry. But no matter what happens you need take her to safety. And if I ask you to run, you run without looking back.”

“But, Oliver — “ She didn’t like what she was hearing. He was essentially telling her that he would stay behind and sacrifice himself if need be. He was asking her to carry Alexa because she could then easily run away with her if she had to.

She understood it. Their daughter came first. Her safety was priority. In fact she had planned to say something along the same lines to him, but he had beaten her to it.  However, just because she understood his reasons that didn’t mean she was going to accept them so easily.

Was she being kind of a hypocrite? Probably. But she felt being a hypocrite was better than leaving Oliver behind.

“Felicity.” He stepped closer to her.

“I can’t let you do that.” She shook her head, unwilling to give him even the smallest chance to convince her otherwise.

“Fe-li-ci-ty.” He pulled her closer to him by her elbow.

“No!” She didn’t look up at him. She was worried one look at his face and she would give in.

“Look at me!” He demanded, stepping even closer so that he stood towering over her. “Promise me you’ll go if I ask you to and won’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.” He lifted her face by her chin and forced her to look at him.

She felt very tiny in front of him, but she didn’t waver. She stood her ground and challenged his stare. She didn’t want to promise she would leave him. She couldn’t. How could she leave him in ARGUS and let them torture him — use him for whatever evil plans they have just as they had been using her? Moreover, in spite of the possibility that this whole plan might fail, the last couple of days she hadn’t been able to stop herself from dreaming what it would be like for the three of them to live out there in the real world. She had dreamed of all three of them living together in a house by a lake, happy and smiling, and doing things regular people did. So now she didn't want to see those hopes and dreams destroyed. She wouldn’t let it.

“Would you be able to promise me you will, if I asked you to run and leave me here again?” She stepped back, pushing his hand off of her, letting him know that she wouldn’t change her resolve.

“Felicity....” His answer was evident on his face, in his darkened eyes. He may have escaped and gone off on his own five years ago, but this time she knew in her bones that he wasn’t going to leave without her.

He may have said he would do anything she would ask him to do, but she knew this was most probably one of the few exceptions. A man who vowed he would never leave his Bratva brothers behind she was sure would never leave either her daughter or her behind. They meant a lot to him. He had said so himself that day when she had gone to see him in his cell.

“Whatever you say won’t change my mind.”

He accepted her resolution with a nod, but the small sigh he let out soon after was proof that he wasn’t so happy with her choice. “That vent will lead us close get to Dr. Wells’ lab.”  he said, but his voice still sounded affected by their earlier exchange.

“Ok. I know.” She took her small backpack off and handed it to Oliver. “Be careful my tab is in there.” She warned watching how carelessly Oliver slung it over his shoulders.

"Sorry."

“Please remember, the only reason I’m taking the responsibility of carrying Alexa is because you are the better fighter out of the two of us, and if we are to have a fighting chance of getting out of here, you need to be able to move around easily without worrying too much about Alexa's safety.” She said as she put the baby carrier on.

“Got it.” Oliver came closer and turned her around to help her get the straps on properly. It was clear to her that this was his way of calling a truce. His strange little way of saying not to be annoyed with him any longer for what he had requested of her earlier. ”We’ll need to go get those info on Alexa onto your tab and then erase them from Dr. Well’s computers as quickly as possible. That’s why I didn’t send anyone else to do this job. As you might have noticed, most people in Bratva are kind of technologically challenged.”

“Got it.” Damyan’s attempt to shut down the electricity in interrogation room the other day was a prime example of that, she thought.

“But first, you’ll have to hack the lock in Wells’ lab to get in there.”

“I sort of guessed I might have to.” The tingly feeling that ran through her body when Oliver’s fingers accidentally brushed the back of her neck as he helped her with the carrier almost made her forget why she was annoyed with him.

“I think you might already know this too then, the lock there is a one you designed. LS43?” He turned her around to him from her shoulders and checked if all the straps were buckled tightly.

“It is. It won’t take me more than a couple of minutes to open that lock.” He kept his hands on the straps of the carrier even though he was done checking.

“I know you can hack and break through the lock in Alexa’s room too, but if I remember correctly the fastest time you recorded on hacking a lock like that was 15 minutes. Problem is we can’t spend that much time in one location. Especially not there.”

“So we need the to get the passwords and the voice recording from Dr. Wells to get access to Alexa’s room. I got it.” She rolled her eyes. “You know you seemed to remember a lot of info about the locks, but you seem to have forgotten that I can open that type of a lock in 13 minutes 10 seconds and 33 milliseconds. Your record time was 4 minutes 2 seconds and 11 milliseconds slower than mine.” She argued poking his chest with her index finger.

He chuckled, shaking his head and she couldn’t help but smile along with him even though she wasn’t so sure what was so funny about it. “Just because I’m smiling don’t think I’m not angry with you anymore for what you asked me to do earlier.” She continued to poke  his chest with her finger.

Without a warning, he pulled her closer from the straps of the baby carrier and if not for the carrier itself, she might have crashed into his chest.

“I know.” He whispered before placing a soft kiss on her lips — a sweet gentle kiss that made her feel as if she was floating.

“What was that for?” She asked shyly as soon as he moved away.

“Because I love you.”

A little happy squeal escaped her at his reply, at the playfulness she spotted in his eyes.

His watch vibrated interrupting their little moment again.

“We need to move?” she asked.

“Yeah.” He gave her a small smile before taking a screwdriver from the duffle bag.

“Do you remember that one time I got lost in the vent? I still can’t believe I got lost. I know I was just a toddler, but I was still supposed to be a genius.”

"I was afraid I'd never see you again." Oliver confessed so simply as he walked over to where the vent was.

“I was afraid I would never see you again too.” She mumbled to herself watching him as he concentrated on opening the vent. She remembered how she had wandered about the inside of the vent crying and calling his name that day. It was one of the very first times she had come to realize how attached she was to him.

However the hardest and the most loneliest night of all had been the night after Oliver escaped ARGUS. It was into Oliver’s arms she had usually run to whenever she was sad, so after he had escaped not only had she missed him, she also hadn’t had anyone to talk about it with. She had looked for Molly to cuddle, but she had been nowhere to be found either. She had figured Malcolm may have thrown it away, since he had more than once had warned her that she was too old to have a doll, and he would get rid of it if she wouldn’t.

Even though Molly was just a doll, the thought that Molly never got to go outside of ARGUS with her again or wouldn’t be able to escape with her made her heart clench.

“Let me give you a boost.” Oliver helped her climb into the vent and then he climbed in after her.

“The blue prints are on your tab too, right? Or should I take the ones Diggle sent me?”

“It's there, but I’ve memorized everything. We won’t need it for now.” She said as she confidently moved forward. She had learned her lesson the day she had gotten trapped in the vent. Therefore she had studied its layout years ago.

“So are we sure Dr. Wells in his lab right now? Or should I check from my tab?” she asked.

“If my sources are right, yes. Last few days he’s been locking himself up in the lab, because he's apparently in the midst of making a scientific breakthrough. I was told he practically lives in that lab.”

“But, how are we going to get the passwords out of him? It’s not like he will just give it to us.” As far as she knew Dr. Wells wasn’t trained to fight like they were, but still she figured the man wouldn’t just cooperate.

“The old fashion way.” Oliver muttered behind her.

“Huh?”

“I’m going to put the fear of God in him.”

“Oh?” She kept crawling wondering how exactly he was going to do that.

“We’re almost there,” he said when they were just few feet away from the hallway leading to Dr. Wells’ room.

They checked how many men were guarding the entrance to the lab and if Dr. Wells was  inside by hacking into the cameras with the help of her tab. After making sure the cameras were playing the same clip on a loop, they came up with a small plan to deal with the guards.

They jumped out of the vent and quietly approached the lab.

When they were close enough Oliver attacked the guards diverting all the attention to himself so that she could sneak in and open the lock as fast as she could.

She had always been impressed with his fighting skills, but now he seemed to have become sharper and stronger. However what caught her attention the most wasn’t his fighting skills, but the way he carried himself.

He had been very rough and tough when he had walked into that security room of the casino in Hub City and scared off the security guards, but tonight he was giving away different type of energy as he fought. She couldn’t give a name to what she sensed, other than say there was a new strong aura about him. She wondered if it had anything to do with the need to save his daughter at all cost, because she too had been feeling as if something had changed within herself too — probably ever since she had learned about Alexa’s existence.

The lab door opened with a click, right when Oliver was done knocking out the guards.

“Who’s there?” Wells yelled.

“Move or I’ll shoot!” Oliver went inside the lab first with his gun aimed at the scientist, and she followed him with her gun in her hand.  

“Oliver?” Wells looked about as if he was trying to find a way to alarm the others about his escape.

"Don't even think about it!" Felicity threatened, stopping Wells from reaching for the security alarm.

“What are the passwords to our daughter’s room?” Oliver growled moving closer to the doctor.

Hearing him say _“our daughter_ ” with such conviction made her heart swell with pride and love — made her believe that they were going to succeed tonight no matter what.

“Tell us the passwords!” Oliver demanded while she got her tab prepared to capture Wells’ voice.

“No! I can’t do that,” The Doctor at first didn’t appear as if he was going to break, but when Oliver marched closer threatening him to say the passwords he seemed as if he would tell all of his life’s secrets to Oliver.

 _Oh, that's how he puts the fear of God into people_ , she thought raising a brow.

“AR9<32x.” Wells finally blabbered the first password.

“And the other password?”

“Genesis.”

“Did you get that Felicity?” Oliver asked.

“Yup, but— “

Before she could finish her sentence Oliver hit Wells on his head with the back of the gun, rendering him unconscious.

“Why did you do that for? How do we even know he said the right password?” She glared.

“You saw him shaking. You saw his body language. He wasn’t lying.”

She thought about it for a moment, and then decided to trust his instincts since she figured he had more experience dealing with these sorts of situations than she had.

“We need to get the data.” Oliver reminded her.

She sat in front of one of the computers and accessed all the other computers there using the Local network they’ve build within the lab. Copying a large volume of data and erasing them wasn’t something that could be done quickly. If not for the special copying tool she had developed they probably might not have been able to finish the task within the time they did.

"It's Done!" She chimed happily, and they set out again, Oliver holding onto her hand protectively.

As they ran down the hallway her mind flooded with dreams she had recently been seeing of both of them running away together with Alexa — to some place far away from ARGUS, somewhere Laurel or Malcolm couldn't find them.

In each one of those dreams their fingers were entwined, and they were running side by side just like they were now. Most of the times the dreams ended with them finally escaping, but sometimes the dreams got meshed with a memory of her trying to protect Oliver.

* * *

 

_“Felicity! Where are you taking me?” She had tried to draw him towards her room by his hand, but he had pulled in the opposite direction making her attempts futile. She being just four years old and him being older than her had given him the advantage in most battles, and she had pouted at him annoyed and worried._

_“Walter isn’t here today. They’ll hurt you.” After overhearing some ARGUS people talking about all the tests they had planned for Oliver  later that day, she had been so afraid for him._

_They had done many experiments on her too, but she had been a more worried about his safety than her own. She just hadn’t wanted to see him lying on a bed like she had seen him few nights ago. Seeing him like so had hurt her tiny heart so much._

_“You can hide under my bed. Monsters can’t see you if you hide under the bed. Mama said so.” People at ARGUS may not have been real monsters with big eyes and teeth, but they had certainly done monstrous things in her eyes._

_“They always catch us Felicity.”_

_And they had caught them right then. Two ARGUS guards had appeared out of nowhere and had grabbed Oliver by his arms._

_“No! No! You can’t take him! You can’t!” She had started to kick the two sturdy guards as they took Oliver away. The guards had simply continued on their way without even taking a second to look at her. "_

_"Laurel, help me!" She had begged the brunette, who had simply turned the page of the book she had been reading. Probably because she knew ARGUS always got and did what they wanted no matter what._

_“Felicity, it’s alright. I’ll be fine. Don’t cry. I’ll be back.”_

_“No!” She bit the hand of one of the guards._

_“Aw!” With a yelp the man had let Oliver go and instead pulled her up with one hand. “If you’re going to behave like this I’m going to make sure you’ll never going to see him again.” he had threatened her as he carried her towards her room._

_“No! Let Oliver go!” Without listening to him she had punched the man with her fists to no avail._

_“Felicity! Don’t hurt her! No!”_

_She had heard Oliver yell as the guard locked her up in her room._

_“Let him go!” She had yelled and kicked her door until finally she had fallen to the floor in exhaustion._

_Funnily enough, she had been the one to wake up in a bed in med-bay that night and Oliver had been the one who had been waiting for her to wake up with teary eyes._

* * *

 

“Felicity are you alright?” Oliver said the exact words he had said that night when she had woken up at med-bay, and she felt like immersing herself further in that nostalgic feeling. Their childhood had never really been sunshine and rainbows, but she would always cherish every moment Oliver and she shared. Every moment was precious to her.

“Felicity?”

“Yeah, I’m alright.” She glanced at him as they ran down the hallway, and saw the worry etched on his face slowly fade away at her reply.

“Wait!” Oliver stopped suddenly before turning a corner and pulled her to take cover behind a wall.

“What is it?” She whispered, leaning back against the wall and turning her head slightly towards Oliver.

“I can hear some guards.” He whispered back, and handed her the tab asking her to see if he was right.

She quickly logged in and accessed the cameras. “There are four Agents walking this way and there are three more guards hanging around the vent we used earlier.” She informed him.

“Can you see if it’s safe to use the elevator?”

“There are too many of them circling near all the elevators and inside each elevator there are at least two guards. Do you think they’ve caught on to something?”

“I’m not sure, but let’s not risk it.” Oliver looked up at the vent right above them.  “We’ll use this one to get to the elevator shaft. Then we’ll have to climb down to the 5th floor using the old elevator cables. You OK with that?”

“I don’t think I have a choice to not be OK with that.” She didn’t want her fear of heights to get in the way of their escape mission. She wouldn’t let it.

“You’ll be alright.” He took the tablet from her and put his other hand on her shoulder. “ I won’t let anything happen to you.”  

She would never doubt that. Even if their relationship hadn’t taken this turn, even if they had been just friends she knew he would always do everything in his power to keep her safe.

“I know.” She gently kissed his hand that was on her shoulder.

He squeezed her shoulder a little and let his hand slide down, along the length of her arm, catching her hand in the end. “Let’s go and get our daughter.”

Honestly the dreams of having a future with Oliver and hope of seeing Alexa in her arms were that gave her the strength to continue — to forget about the fact that they could get shot any moment, to climb down the elevator cables without any kind of a harness, gloves and without completely freaking out about the fact the old rusty cables could break any moment.

“Just a couple more feet.” Oliver told her as he slid down the last bit of the cable and jumped to a concrete beam on the 5th floor. Climbing down 10 floors had been as hard and time consuming as she had expected it to be. For some reason the last couple of feet seemed the hardest.

“Jump!” He urged, opening his arms to catch her.

“No!” She slid down a little bit more, but refused to jump from the cable to the beam. There wasn’t a huge gap, but to her it seemed miles apart.

“I’ll catch you. I promise.”

“You better!” She jumped only because she knew Oliver was waiting with his arms opened.

“I told you. I will catch you.” He said putting his arms around her just as she jumped.

“Thank you.” She kissed his cheek and with a smile he gently helped her stand on the beam on her own.

 Before going to where Alexa was Felicity used her tab to make sure they can move without being caught on security cameras, and tried to find out where all the guards were positioned.

Every corner and corridor on the 5th floor was usually well guarded, but most of them seemed to have already been dealt with by Oliver’s men. However, there were a few close by Alexa’s room whom Oliver and she had to take care of by themselves.

Most of those guards were rendered unconscious by them with the use of a martial art technique they had learned many years ago, but some of them were brought down by the tranquilizer gun Oliver had been carrying.

“Cell 54,” Oliver read the label on the large steel door that separated them from their daughter, and glanced at Felicity.

“I guess it’s time to see if Dr. Wells gave us the right passwords.” She accessed the interface of the lock using the first password Dr. Wells had given. Oliver was right. The man hadn’t lied. The password was accepted by the program within seconds.

Then hoping that the quality of the audio she captured was good enough to fool the voice recognition program, she moved her tab closer to the lock and played the audio clip of Dr. Wells mumbling the second password.

Anxiety grew as the software on the lock took its time to verify the clip, and lot of doubts, fears and questions began to float in her head while she waited.

What if the lock didn't open? What if the lock opened and Alexa wasn't there? What if the lock opened, her daughter didn’t like her? What if she was not cut out to be a mother?

Sure she had read countless books on how to be a mother, but she knew being a mother was something that had to come naturally and couldn’t truly be done by following some points written down in a book.

Her attention was brought back to the mission at hand when the lock made a beep sound. A wave of relief washed over her reading the words _“Access Granted”_ blinking on the interface.

“You ready?” Oliver asked.

She took her gun out and nodded.

Oliver pushed the door open and they both stepped in together — Oliver still had his tranquilizer gun in hand.  He had opted to keep using it for now as it would make the least noise, and wouldn’t frighten Alexa, but Felicity had no option but to go in with her 9mm.

“Put her back in the bassinet and step away.” Felicity yelled at the woman wearing a white coat that was holding Alexa.

"You can't be in here!" One of the two guards who were inside the room shouted and Oliver shot tranquilizers at them both before they could even reach for their guns.

“Put her back in the bassinet!” Felicity ordered again.

From the way the woman’s hands shook as she placed Alexa in the bassinet, it was evident that she wasn’t a trained ARGUS agent, but most probably just a doctor or a nurse attending to Alexa.

“Please don’t hurt me.” As soon as the woman moved away from Alexa, Oliver shot a tranquilizer at her, and she too dropped to the floor within seconds.

“Well that was easy.” After switching the safety lock on she put her gun back into its holster and took a couple of steps towards Alexa. She wasn’t comfortable with the idea of carrying a baby while carrying a gun, but she needed the gun for protection. If she had a choice she would have thrown the gun away before she even moved closer to the bassinet.

“Felicity…” Oliver caught her hand and stopped her from going any further. When she turned around and saw the look on his face she realized he had taken her hand because he was as nervous as her to take his first real glimpse at their daughter.

“We’ll be fine.” She said to reassure both Oliver and herself.

“Yeah.” Grasping her hand firmly he moved towards the corner of the room where Alexa was.

Felicity’s heart fluttered as she for the first time set her eyes on the baby inside the bassinet. She was innocently suckling on a pacifier, and she seemed so precious and fragile. Her big blue eyes stared back at her as if she was trying to recognize the two people who were standing before her.

All this time she had been checking in on Alexa through the security cameras, but now she was actually there, standing barely an arm’s length away from her. She felt as if she was dreaming.

Although she knew there was no time to just stand and watch she didn’t want to scare her daughter by just snatching her right out of her bassinet.  

She turned to Oliver and saw him looking at Alexa with pure joy, and wonderment —  eyes glazed with tears.

“Hi, Alexa. How are you? This is your dad and I’m your mom,” Felicity said softly, leaning forward to get closer to Alexa.  Referring to herself as a her mom and Oliver as her father felt scarily natural. Oliver gripped her hand harder as if he had felt what she had felt too.

“Hey, Alexa,” Oliver said. His tone was soft — complete contrast to the man who had not that long ago had scared a man into spilling out a password.

Alexa began to coo, waving her small arms and legs as if asking her to take her into her arms.

It hadn’t even taken a second for Felicity to oblige — to just scoop Alexa up into her arms.

Whatever anxieties, insecurities she had about being a mother vanished the moment she held Alexa close to her chest. It felt so inate. It felt right. She was hers — theirs.

“We have to go.” Oliver almost reached out and touched Alexa’s face, but then took his hand away as if he would have burned if he had.

She gazed at him worried. “Oliver?”

Instead of telling her why he had reacted to Alexa that way he simply urged her to put Alexa into the baby carrier.

She didn’t question him further. It wasn’t the time. In fact there was no time. So she just quickly and silently placed Alexa in the carrier with Oliver’s help. Nevertheless she didn’t miss how hesitant his hands were and how they avoided Alexa all the while he helped her.

“Let’s get out of here.” He threw the tranquilizer gun aside and took his 9mm out. After carefully checking if anyone was roaming the hallway, he signalled her to follow him.

Halfway down the hallway they met up with the two Bratva members who Oliver had sent to the 5th floor earlier. Even though it was a risk, they decided to use the stairs instead of the vents or elevator shafts this time, because of Alexa.

Felicity held Alexa close as she hurried down the stairs along side Oliver.

A month ago, or even couple of weeks ago she wouldn’t have thought that this would truly ever be possible — that she would be escaping ARGUS with her daughter in a baby carrier and Oliver would be by her side.

It probably wasn’t going to be easy to make their way out of the ground floor without being noticed, but Oliver had promised that there would be more of his men there, and that he had a well thought out plan.

Honestly, she may have figured out most of what he had planned, but she had been mainly focused on getting to that room on the 5th floor to get her baby girl first that she hadn’t really given much thought to ask how exactly he was planning to get out of ARGUS and where he was planning to run off to. Yet now that she had Alexa in her arms, she wanted to know every little detail about it. Because now she realized the risk level of the mission has increased in ten folds. She had to be more careful than she had been the last few minutes to make sure her daughter was safe and she made it out of there unscathed.

But there was no time for her to ask him which one of his men were doing what or who will be driving the getaway vehicles, so on and so forth. Thus she simply trusted that Oliver had everything sorted out without giving it a second thought.

Her eyes wandered to her daughter, falling asleep, softly cooing to herself as she suckled on her pacifier.

She had no clue how this night would play out, but she knew it would decide Alexa’s future.

“Hey!” They had only reached the 3rd floor when a guard walking up the stairs spotted them.

Oliver jumped to where the man was and pushed his face against the wall near by twisting his arm backward. The other two Bratva men stood in front of Felicity like a wall shielding her from the guard.

From the little gap between the two men Felicity could see that the guard trying to wriggle his way out of Oliver’s grip.

“Fuck you! I’m not going to let you get away.” The guard shouted.

Even though Felicity knew Alexa couldn’t really understand she quickly covered her ears with her hands.

“I don’t think so.”  Oliver pressed on a pressure point on the guard’s neck making him fall unconscious next to his feet.

“Let’s go!” Oliver led the way as the other two Bratva members now followed her like her very own personal bodyguards.

At the bottom of the staircase they found Nikolai who was responsible for clearing the path for them to exit the premises, “What’s the progress?” Oliver asked him.

“Kapitan, all the bombs are set. All of their labs and research documentation will be destroyed just like you wanted. I made sure the path is cleared for us, but still we need to cross this hallway to get to the exit. And we have to be quiet as possible.”

“What about Damyan?”

“Radley contacted me, sir. They are on their way here.” Nikolai scanned the hallway before entering. Just as Oliver had promised there were two more Bratva men waiting in the hallway for them.

Oliver gripped her elbow hard while they ran, as if he was afraid that something terrible would happen to both of them if he were to let go.

This was the home stretch in a way and if they were able to cross this hallway without being caught they would be very close to being free.

Suddenly, hearing a faint whimper she looked down at Alexa. Her face looked like she had just bit into a slice of lemon. “Uhm.. Oliver, I think for a couple of geniuses we might have made one tiny oversight.”

“Hmm.. what?” He gave her a quick glance.

“Babies... They cry.”  Alexa cried just then, as if she had only been waiting for her mother’s cue. The pacifier fell from her mouth and the alarms went off the very next second.

“Run! We’ve been spotted.” Amidst Alexa’s crying and the sound of alarms Felicity didn’t even know who told her to run, but she ran faster either way.

“Alexa, honey… Don’t cry, baby.” Felicity tried to calm her as they ran, but it was to no avail. She cried in a very high pitch and Felicity didn’t know what to do.

“Let’s go! Let’s go!”  Oliver encouraged her to run faster with him and for some reason Alexa’s crying began to grow fainter the faster she ran. Yet, by then it was too late, she heard the sounds of guards approaching them from behind.

“Shit!” Oliver yelled just as they turned the corner. Two guards had been waiting for them.

As Oliver dragged Alexa and her to a corner and shielded them with his body, his allies ran forward shooting at the two guards. Within minutes they managed to disarm both guards before kicking them to the ground.

But they could hear more guards coming their way.

“Over here!” Nikolai shot the lock on the a door next to him to open it.  

The door led them to a large hall filled with different types of machinery, and there were red bulbs blinking all around alerting everyone about the security breach.

She recognized the room after just a few glances. It was where they kept all the machines she designed. From the earthquake machine to the transfuser in the corner were all hers.

Despite the fact that she was forced to make those machines, a chill ran down her spine thinking of all the destruction her they may have caused in the world. She had always known ARGUS wasn’t using her designs for anything good, but to see all of them at once made her feel extremely guilty. “Just a little bit more.” She told Oliver, but it was mostly meant to give herself the courage to walk through those massive machines that probably had caused so much carnage and devastation that she couldn’t even imagine.

"Freeze!" They were almost at the middle of the room, when suddenly all doors from all the sides of the room flung opened and a platoon of armed guards entered.

Oliver’s friends drew out their guns, while he drew her and Alexa behind a large machine close by.  “Stay here. Keep her safe.” He told her before rolling across the floor to take cover behind the earthquake machine as it was a good vantage point from where he could see everyone.

As much as she wanted to fight alongside him and defeat the guards, she had to make sure Alexa was safe first. Sure the baby carrier was made of Kevlar, but it would be foolish and irresponsible of her to take the risk of walking into a middle of gunfire with a baby.

So she watched from afar, her gun ready to shoot if anyone would approach them.

Every Time a shot fired Alexa jerked and screamed.

“Everything will be alright hun. Your father and I will take care of you. We're not going to let anything happen to you.” She wasn’t even sure if Alexa could hear her over the cacophony of bullets, but she continuously mumbled soothing words to calm her down.

“Не позволяйте им идти в любом месте рядом с Фелисити!” _[Don't let them go anywhere near Felicity!_ ] Her attention went back to Oliver when she heard him yell her name.

He was firing his gun to immobilize the guards shooting at them. The light coming from the blinking red bulbs, fell up on Oliver’s face accentuating his determination, anger and frustration. The battle was becoming little bit too much to handle and she could see it on his face.

Her finger shook on the trigger of her own gun, as she debated whether she should just use it to help Oliver or stay low like he asked. However, that debate ended the moment she caught a guard sneaking up behind Oliver to shoot him. “Oliver! Watch out!” She shouted firing her gun at the guard, and not even a fraction later, Alexa screamed startled by the noise.

The bullet hit the guard’s stomach, but apparently that wasn’t enough to stop him from pulling his trigger at Oliver. “No!” Time slowed down as she looked on helplessly.

Oliver was trying to jump out of the way, but she knew he wouldn’t be quick enough.

“Oliver!” The bullet was flying fast towards his chest and she closed her eyes not wanting to see it hit him.

“Ah!”

She opened her eyes when she heard a cry of pain, and was shocked by what she saw. “Damyan?” Oliver’s friend was lying on the floor instead of Oliver. She wasn’t sure how that had happened or from where Damyan had appeared, but somehow he had taken a bullet for his boss.

Oliver quickly pulled Damyan to the side and checked his pulse. "He's alright!" He let her know, somehow knowing that she was worried.

ARGUS hadn’t really raised to believe in Gods, but she thanked every deity for sending Damyan there right at that moment and prayed he and all the other Bratva men would be able to leave ARGUS with them alive.

The fight continued for few more minutes and then suddenly it all felt silent. When she peeked her head out from where she was and looked around, she she saw all the guards were on the floor —  some unconscious and some crying in pain.

“Are you both alright?” Oliver ran over to her and helped her stand up.

“Yes. Are you?” Her hands and eyes roamed from his face to his chest, checking for any injuries.

“I am.” He clasped her hand reassuringly. “let’s go before more guards get here.”

“What about Damyan?”

“Someone will have to carry him.” He turned around and instructed Nikolai to carry his Bratva brother.

Oliver entwined his fingers with hers and ran along with her towards the exit point. Maybe it was her fear talking, but she felt like that there was something far worse than that small army of guards awaiting them.

Oliver stopped to turn around and check on Damyan who had started to suddenly shout unable to endure the pain he was in. "Is everything alright?"

"He's bleeding a lot." Nikolai laid him on the floor to inspect his bullet wound while the others stood waiting for Oliver’s instructions.

“Felicity, I’ll go and see what’s wrong. Wait here.”

Oliver had barely taken two steps when out of nowhere a gate made of steel bars fell from above, and separated her and Alexa from Oliver and the others.

“Oliver!”

He turned around to the sound of her crying.

“No! No!”

They both grabbed onto the steel bars and tried to pull it open simply out of desperation.

“This can’t be happening. I'm sure I deactivated these gates!”

He looked behind him, probably realizing that they might get cornered by guards in the hallway with no place to hide.

His men were already getting ready to fight, but they all knew unless they somehow got the gate opened they were all going to get caught.

“Felicity — “

“No! Don’t even say it!” She knew what was coming. She knew he was going to ask her to leave. “She knelt down to check the lock on the gate to see if she could somehow quickly break it. She had studied locks like this before. It used a complex circuit and an algorithm more complex than any lock she had hacked into earlier.

“Felicity, you and I both know there’s not enough time for you to crack the code.”

She refused to even look up at him.

“Felicity,” He knelt down on the other side and snuck his right hand through the steel bars and lifted her face by her chin. “Please, listen to me. You and Alexa have to get out of here. Diggle is outside and he will take you somewhere safe.”

She shook her head ‘no’, tears slowly streaming down her cheeks.

“I can go through anything knowing you both are out there — safe and happy.”

“I’m happy when I’m with you. I can’t lea — “

He didn’t let her finish. He snuck his other hand through the steel bars and pulled her face closer to catch her lips in a soft, loving kiss. “Felicity I love you.” Tears pooling in his eyes made them appear bluer as they bore into hers. “You and Alexa are the most important people in my life. I don’t want her… or you to spend the rest of your lives here. This might be the only chance you might ever get to escape and I want you to take that chance. Don’t you want to be free? Don’t you want Alexa to be free? Don’t you want her to have a better life —  a better childhood than we both did?”

“But — ” She had no reply. She knew he was right about this perhaps being their only chance to make sure their daughter was free, but how could she just leave him?

“Felicity, please.” At his pleading she decided to go without him— against her will and against her heart. She probably wouldn’t be able to live with herself for leaving him behind or forgive herself if something happened to him after she left, but she had no choice.

“I… ... love you Oliver.” She placed her lips against his gently, but he drew her face closer and deepened the kiss.

“I love you.” She broke away only because she knew there was not that much time left, but still she was unable to simply stand up and leave as she was supposed to. She just kept her forehead rested against his.

“Forever and always?” he asked in the softest of tones and she was suddenly hit with a flood of memories of that young boy that offered her his friendship the first day she met him — of that young boy that always made her laugh and gave her the bracelet she was still wearing around her wrist — the one that she would forever cherish.

“Forever and always.” She closed her eyes and replied.

His watch vibrated again. “Only twenty more minutes left before the bombs go off. You should go.” He reminded her and helped her onto her feet.

“I will come back for you.” She promised him as well as herself — reaching in through the steel bars and grabbing his right hand. "And if you go anywhere near where the bombs are I'll be really pissed."

"I won't."He chuckled a little.

“Aww, isn't this romantic?" The familiar condescending tone of Laurel's voice made Felicity turn around in a flash. Her old friend was standing with her gun directed right at her head. Behind her she could hear Oliver’s men loading their guns and moving forward towards where they were, but she knew they could do nothing while Laurel had her gun pointed at her.

“Surprised? I just knew you were up to something when you asked permission to work late.”

Felicity cursed herself internally for ever thinking that Laurel would just let it go simply because Malcolm Merlyn didn’t suspect her. She too was a genius after all. If there was anyone besides Oliver that had any clue how her mind really worked it was Laurel.

“Let them go! Laurel!” Oliver yelled, pulling on the bars.

Laurel simply smirked and marched towards her. “She looks like you.” she said touching Alexa’s cheek with one hand while she held her gun firmly on the other. “They never even tried to —  they thought my genes were useless compared to yours and thought my child would be useless to them. “ She slowly stepped back. ”From the day you came to ARGUS, it felt like everyone forgot I existed… The trainers, Walter… Oliver.”

“Laurel, it wasn’t like that. I never — “ Oliver started to say, but Laurel put a hand up and stopped him.

“Felicity, after you said what you said in my office I’ve been thinking a lot. I thought I was in love with Oliver. I thought you took him away from me. But I was wrong. You’re right. If I truly loved him I wouldn’t have tried bring him back here… And Oliver, he has never been mine to begin with.”

“I… We — “ Felicity didn’t really know what she was supposed to say.

“I came here to stop you, but now after seeing..." Laurel's eyes traveled to Alexa and back to Felicity.  Then She stepped forward and punched in the password to unlock the gate.  "You can go.” Once the gate opened, Laurel stepped away and everyone simply stared at her confused.

“Laurel?” Felicity couldn’t believe that she would just let them go. For five years she had been trying to catch Oliver and now suddenly she was letting them go? No strings attached?

“Go before I change my mind.”

Oliver came forward and stood beside Felicity.

“Come with us, Laurel.” Felicity offered.

“ARGUS is my life now. I’ve dedicated too much of my time and given up too much of myself to reach where I am now to give it all up. I  wouldn’t know how to live out there. I don’t know who I'm supposed to be if I’m not an ARGUS agent. I’m not made like the two of you.” This was a Laurel Felicity had never seen —  so fragile, so broken, so human.

“Punch me!” Laurel had said out of the blue to her surprise. “I can't let them find out that I let you go. So punch me.” Laurel kept provoking her.

“I can’t —  ” Felicity stepped back and Oliver’s hand at the small of her back stopped her from retreating any further.

“Oh, don’t act so innocent now, Felicity. I know you know how to throw a punch. And you probably want to punch me for the way I’ve been treating you for the past 20 years.”

Felicity may have felt like punching Laurel a few times throughout the years, but she hadn’t ever thought she would actually do it. Besides it was different to hit a person in the middle of a brawl than to deliberately hit someone on the face just  because they asked.

“Felicity, it will make it easier for her to deal with Malcolm.” Oliver nodded, assuring her that this was the right thing to do and she nodded back realizing that he was right.

“Ok then, here goes nothing.” she balled her hand into a fist and did what she was asked to do.

“Aw!”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you that hard.”

“I deserved it.” Laurel replied rubbing the spot on her jaw where she was hit. “Go, I’ll give you a half an hours’ lead.“

"Thank you." Oliver shook Laurel's hand and she smiled awkwardly.

"Good bye, Laurel." Just as Felicity was about to leave with Oliver and the other’s, Laurel caught her by her forearm and stopped her.

“I hope you understand that this is a one time thing. Think of this as my way of saying sorry for being a bitch to you for all these years because of my own insecurities. But I am an ARGUS agent first and foremost. So f I saw either of you somewhere tomorrow, I won’t hesitate to bring you to back in.”

Felicity donned a little smile to show that she understood her situation. She herself may not have wanted to be an ARGUS agent, but it was slightly jarring to think about who she might discover herself to be when ARGUS wouldn’t be there to control her life.

“Goodbye, Laurel. It's not going to be safe for you to stay here either in a little while. I suggest you stay away from the labs and the archives. ” With that warning Oliver hurried out of the room with Felicity and his Bratva brothers.

After fighting off dozen or so security personnel standing guard outside the building and disabling the electric fence on the wall, they finally managed to get out of the premise.

They found Diggle and his wife Lyla waiting for them outside the ARUGS walls. They had brought three vehicles for them.

While Oliver, Alexa and Felicity got on the same vehicle as Diggle and Lyla, Oliver’s Bratva friends hopped on the other two.

As the car raced away Felicity turned around and looked behind. The tall walls didn’t give a complete view of all the ARGUS buildings and she felt that it looked exactly like a prison. In fact, it was a prison. They had kept her a prisoner there her whole life and she hoped that it would be the last she would see of the place.

Five minutes or so into the ride, she heard the bombs go off behind her and she shivered realizing exactly what was happening.

“Are you alright?” Oliver who was sitting next to her on the backseat of the car, put his arm around her shoulder.

“I think so.” She leaned closer to him and sighed.

They were finally free. Alexa was free.

Felicity felt a sense of joy she couldn’t really explain seeing her daughter soundly sleeping in her arms and she closed her eyes to take a moment to just let everything sink in.

* * *

 

They've been on the road for almost ten hours now, and they were just another hour or so away from reaching their destination.

Diggle sat in the passenger seat at the front. He was looking out from the window while Lyla drove silently, her eyes focused on the road ahead. From the rear-view mirror Oliver could see his loyal bratva brothers following them in their black Sudans.

Even though they were loyal to him none of them —  even Damyan —  knew nothing more than they needed to know why they were on a mission to rescue Felicity and Alexa, and he was thankful they all had risked their lives for him without even knowing the whole story. However, he guessed they might have a fair idea now as to why he had asked for their help. In fact they would have to be blind to not to have noticed what Felicity and Alexa meant to him. He hadn’t tried to hide his feelings for them throughout the mission and he doubted he would have been able to hide his feeling even if he had tried. He had been and still was too on edge and too concerned about protecting them both to even think about carrying out some act to show they were nothing but another mission to him.

 _55 miles to Harmony Falls,_ he read the big sign that passed.

Even though it had been hours since they had made their escape, and he was certain no one was following them at the moment he was still very worried. He needed to be. ARGUS would never give up searching for them that easily. If all the bombs they had planted on the labs and archives had gone off as they had planned, it would no doubt cause ARGUS to slow down. However, ARGUS being a secret organization that have branches all over the world definitely had contingency plans. They definitely would be coming after them once again when they have sorted out their issues.

Even Laurel who had let them escape had warned them that she wouldn’t hesitate to lock them up if they were to cross paths again.  

He believed she had honored their friendship, their past, by letting them go just this once, but she had made it clear that she had no real reason to help them again. He may not agree with her choices, but he somewhat understood why she made them.

He quickly looked down hearing Alexa mumbling in her sleep, and what he saw right then took his breath away.

The petite bespectacled blonde — the woman he had forever been in love with was sitting with her head rested against his chest, while holding their daughter safely in her arms. If love and happiness were to be captured into one perfect image this would be it, he felt.

He wrapped both his arms around the two of them protectively, not just because he wanted to make them feel safe, but because he needed make sure that this was not a fantasy — that this was actually happening.

Alexa smiled at him as if to let him know that this was indeed real.

He wanted to take her into his hands right then and tell her that he wasn't going to let anything happen to her ever, but no matter how much he wanted to he felt as if he shouldn't. As much as he had dreamed of holding their daughter, and fantasized about having a family, now that she was there he felt as if he would break her, hurt her in some way if he were to actually touch her.

His hands were tainted by blood. The men he killed had never been completely innocent. Nevertheless He had killed. He still had blood on his hands. He was still a killer. He wasn't sure if he deserved to hold someone so pure as Alexa.

Even though he had tried to hide it from Felicity he knew she had already picked up on his hesitancy.

“Oliver...” Felicity murmured as she looked up at him. “Everything is going to be alright. She’s going to love you. You're going to be a great dad.” She flashed him one of her sweet heart melting smiles and closed her eyes.

“How do you know?

“I just know.”

He felt reassured by her words. With her beside him he felt he could conquer anything. He felt like a fool for leaving her five years ago. Even if at the time he had thought his reasons were justified, he felt if he had escaped with her they could have had this sooner.  But would he have then found out about Alexa?

“Stop worrying so much.” she mumbled with her eyes closed as if she had heard his thoughts.

She knew him like no one else. “I love you.” He wrapped a hand around her wrist —  over the bracelet he had given her long time ago, and swore to himself that he would never let her go. He swore to himself he would never let anything happen to either Felicity or Alexa.

 


	8. Authors Note

Hi! Sorry this isn't an update. I'm actually going to stop writing for Olicity. But I realized I've written more than half of the next chapter of this story, So I'll be posting that as soon as I can. Thank you for being patient. 


	9. April 10th 2016 (part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope someone is still interested in reading this. Sorry I took so long to update. I was going to update this last week, but I found so many continuity errors, I had to rewrite some things on this chapter. 
> 
> I didn't beta it because I wanted to update soon, but I'll try to get it checked soon.
> 
> I tried to show Oliver and Felicity dealing with everything in two different ways. Hope you guys trust me and read until the end. Also the chapter is not over yet, I broke it into two because it was getting too long. 
> 
> Hope you guys like it. Let me know what you thought of the chapter.
> 
> PS: I'm trying to finish Cupid's Angel too. :)

**April 10th 2016 - part 1**

Felicity woke up to the sound of water running in the bathroom. She had a faint memory of Oliver kissing her forehead, and telling her that he was going to take a quick shower, but she had been in that strange place between sleep and awake that until now she'd thought it had been just another dream.

To be honest, she wasn't sure if any of it was real. From their escape yesterday to now – waking up to the sound of Oliver taking a shower in the bathroom while Alexa slept soundly beside her – felt all too good to be true.

She wiped the sleep from her eyes and took a good look around the room for the first time since she'd been there.

Last night when they had arrived at their safe house, she hadn't even taken a moment to see what the place actually looked like. She'd been too caught up in taking Alexa to somewhere warm and safe to even think of anything else. She had just followed Oliver into the bedroom they were in now, and hadn't taken a step outside since then. In fact neither had Oliver, and nor had he even suggested they should.

It wasn’t just because she was worn out and needed the rest, but because the bedroom had felt like their own little world that might disappear if she were to step out even for a second.

As a matter of fact, the first few hours they were there they both hadn't even left the bed. They had just lied there with Alexa cocooned between them, marveling the fact that she was theirs, and they had managed to get her out of ARGUS without even a scratch on her.

 _But, it wasn't over yet,_ she thought with a sigh.

She knew ARGUS would never give up looking for them. Even if they were to reboot 'TEMPEST' with a new batch of geniuses, they would still be relentlessly scouring the world for their two most skilled geniuses and their baby. It wasn't merely because ARGUS had spent millions of dollars on them or because their escape had hurt their reputation or because they knew it might take them years to find geniuses as capable as them. It was also due to the fact they knew if there was anyone who had the knowledge and the skills to burn their organization to the ground – literally and metaphorically – it could only be Oliver and herself. The fact that they had managed to destroy ARGUS archives as they escaped was proof of that.

Yet, destroying the whole organization wouldn't be as easy as blowing up their archives and labs. ARGUS was a multinational secret organization. They had the tech, the man power and the finance needed to not only search for them world wide, but to destroy half the planet if they wanted to.

So every second they spent just hiding, she felt as if they were giving ARGUS the advantage, and she couldn't help but worry that at any moment now a troop of ARGUS agents would break in through the door to take Alexa from them.

What kept her from completely freaking out about ARGUS, was the trust she had in Oliver. He wouldn't have brought them to this safe house if he didn't think ARGUS wouldn't be able to find them there easily. He wouldn’t have left their side even for a second if he didn’t think the house was perfectly safe.

Nonetheless as a trained ARGUS agent it was sort of ingrained into her to be ready for anything and everything. Therefore her well-trained yet spectacleless eyes instinctively searched for escape points, studied the weak points, the color, the décor, and every other detail of the room. Despite the lack of glasses she realized that the room was nothing like what she'd thought it would be.

Yesterday while Diggle explained their escape route and told her that they were heading to a Bratva safe house in Harmony Falls, for some reason she'd imagined a cold, dark place with leaking ceilings, barely usable furniture and worn out hardwood floors. So she was pleasantly surprised to find that their room was far from being dark or cold. It was a pleasant and a more than well maintained room. It had a perfect mixture of contemporary and antique furniture pieces that gave out a homely vibe she couldn't have expected from a house that was owned by the Russian Mafia.

Then again, could it be that it wasn't just a Bratva safe house? Could there be more to the place than that? Because it couldn't be just a coincidence that there was a vase filled with her favorite orchid and the bed covers were her favorite pink, could it? And, did the two butterflies on the wall – although carved in wood – really resemble the ones painted in her room at ARGUS or was she just reaching? And why was her favorite Van Gogh painting hanging above the fireplace?

She found herself becoming more and more charmed and curious by everything she noticed about the room. However the most fascinating detail that caught her eye was the framed sheet of white paper hanging on the wall opposite the windows. The little bit of afternoon sunlight that streamed in through the curtains wasn't enough for her eyes to make out what was actually drawn or written on it, but the way it was positioned in the room made it seem as if the whole place was built around it.

Just as she was about to grab her glasses from the nightstand, and have a better look at it she felt Alexa tugging on her sleeve.

“Hey there, little nugget,” Felicity whispered, gently untangling Alexa's fingers from the shirt.

Alexa began to babble as though she had some complaints that needed immediate attention.

Donning a smile that spread ear to her, Felicity took Alexa's tiny fist into her hand and turned to her side so that she could see her better.

Within the last couple of days she had come to realize that it was very hard for her to stay separated from Alexa for long. When she had first gotten to hold her she indeed had felt a connection to Alexa, but she hadn't thought that she would feel this connected, this protective over her so soon. She had in fact stayed awake the whole night counting Alexa’s tiny toes and fingers, and watching her breaths fall to make sure she was alive and well. If it wasn’t for Oliver who had urged her to freshen up, and take a little nap after lunch, she wouldn't have even closed her eyes for more than a second.

She kept worrying over Alexa's safety, her future, and her health every other moment.

She knew ARGUS would have made sure Alexa had the best medical care available, but at the same time she knew that didn’t mean they had thought of her as anything other than a test subject – just another part of their project. She couldn’t stop worrying about the tests they might have done on her regardless of her age. “I’m sorry that you had to live in that horrible place… in that room for so long. ” She laid a soft kiss on Alexa’s fist, and slowly let it go to wipe the tears she felt rolling down her cheeks.

“I'm so sorry. I hope they didn't hurt you in anyway.” She mumbled softly, running a hand over Alexa’s hair, combing her soft blonde strands back with her fingers. She felt responsible for Alexa being a prisoner there even though she knew there wasn't anything she could have done. “You're never going back to that place again. I'm going to make sure of it.”

Alexa smiled back at her as though she understood her, and it melt her heart to see how similar her smile was to Oliver's. “You’re going to be brave and stubborn just like your dad when you grow up, aren’t you?” She tapped on the tip of Alexa’s cute button nose.

“I think she’s going to turn out just like her mom — extremely stubborn, intelligent, strong and beautiful." 

Felicity turned around to Oliver's voice and found him standing few feet away from the bed – drying his hair with a towel, wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of cargo pants. The buzz cut ARGUS had given him gave him an edgy, dangerous look that made her heart race with a nervous excitement.

"I mean look at her. She's basically a mini you.” He added, throwing the towel aside.

“But she has your smile.” She grinned shyly, eyes never leaving the perfect specimen of man who had just sneakily implied that she was beautiful.

“She does?” He slowly walked over, and sat beside her on the edge of the mattress.

“Hmm mmm.” She eyed her glasses on the nightstand, but before she had even thought about getting it, he grabbed them and put it on her himself. She felt a blush creep up her cheeks at the tender gesture – the way his fingers lingered on her face a little while longer than necessary.

"So that means you've studied my smile very closely?” He raised his eyebrows in a playful gesture. The few rays of afternoon sun hitting his face made his eyes glow in a beautiful shade of blue-green as they raked over her.

It suddenly hit her that last night she'd changed into one of Oliver's dress shirts and she had nothing under it other than a very flimsy underwear. “I... I've known you almost all my life. So... so of course I know your smile.” She quickly and tactfully pulled the comforter up to her chest to cover herself properly.

He smirked at her response. “Of course.” Placing his hands on either side of her, he leaned forward until his lips were just few inches away from hers. “Felicity... “ The way he uttered her name — every syllable laced with so much love and want — awakened every nerve ending in her body.

She held onto the comforter firmly. They weren’t in an elevator shaft or in a cell anymore. They weren’t in an underground casino or at ARGUS anymore. Instead she was lying on top of silk sheets spread over a huge four poster bed, wearing one of Oliver's shirts. That thought made her nervous even though they had already kissed a few times. “Oliver, I... we – “

Alexa suddenly began to cry as if to remind her parents that she was still there.

“We should probably check on her,” she told him, desperately trying, but failing to look away from him as quickly as she wanted.

“Yeah... we should.” He slowly backed away, giving her space to turn around and tend to Alexa.

“OK… OK, mommy’s here.” Felicity sat up and took Alexa into her hands. Calling herself Alexa's mother, still felt new to her, but it didn't feel wrong - especially when Alexa looked up at her with her big blue eyes. “Are, you OK hun? What's wrong?” Alexa's cries slowly subsided after she pulled her close to her chest.

"Are you hungry?" Felicity only had to look at the bottle of milk Lyla had sent to their room earlier, and Oliver had already taken it from the bedside cupboard for her.

She was grateful to Lyla for providing everything Alexa needed — from diapers to food, to clothes. She felt a little guilty for letting Lyla do so much work, but at the same time she didn’t want to leave the room — their little safe haven.

“Is she alright?” Oliver asked, nervously flicking his index finger against his thumb.

“Yeah. She's fine." She had been taking care of Alexa the whole time, because she knew Oliver was somewhat hesitant to even touch her, but she thought that maybe he might like to try feeding her now. "Do you want to try?”

“Felicity, I’m sorry, I don’t think I can.” His posture quickly changed and he moved back farther on the bed. “I'm sorry.” He looked away from her as though he was ashamed of himself for admitting he couldn’t even feed his daughter.

“All those years I was away, I dreamt of traveling the world with you one day, showing you all the things I’ve seen, and introducing you to all the wonderful people I’ve met. I thought then … maybe after a few years, we’d settle somewhere…maybe here or some place like this... And then somehow find a way to use what we’ve learned at ARGUS to help people. I thought we could maybe then start a family — I mean, if that’s what you wanted too.” He added quickly, glancing at her as if to check her expression — to see if her dreams were anywhere close to what his were.

She was too overcome with emotion to say anything that would make any sense.

_All those years away? He had wanted this for years? He had wanted a family with her, a life with her all this time?_

She had always known they had a special connection. She had always been in love with him, and at times she had felt as if he did too, but to hear he had been feeling the same way for years was certainly overwhelming.

It took her a few seconds to recover, but even then she only managed to respond with a smile.

The little nod and the uptick of his lips let her know he understood that she wasn’t really against his plans. Considering how both of them were brought up, there was no wonder he craved to have a family just as much as she did. Even if she hadn't really thought she'd be a mother at this age, she realized that need to have the joy she was once denied of, had played a huge part in helping her accept Alexa as her daughter.

“From the moment I found out about Alexa, I wanted this-" He gestured at the two of them with his hand as he spoke. "I wanted this life more, Felicity. I wanted the two of you close to me. The thought of sharing my life with you and Alexa was what really kept me sane when they tortured me... tried to brain washed me..”

“Oliver...” She wished she could have done more to help him. She wished they had tortured her instead of him.

She put the bottle away and try to reach for his hand, but he seemed so faraway and lost even though he was right in front of her.

He stared at her hand for a long second before extending his to meet her half way. 

“I was so sure I’d take her into my arms and everything would just fall into place as it should, but I … I couldn't." He kept their fingers intertwined as if his life depended on it.

“It’s alright. I think I can understand. Everything happened so suddenly I wasn't so sure how I'd react either, if I'd be able to actually do any of this.“ It wasn't that she didn't have any fears anymore, but whenever she saw Alexa, heard her cry, whenever Alexa needed her, she was simply able to forget those fears and take care of her without giving it a second thought. Maybe it was what they called 'maternal instinct', or maybe it was because she saw her younger self in Alexa.

Just like herself, Alexa was a little girl who had been deprived of the love of her parents, a little girl trapped in ARGUS. So she wanted Alexa to have everything she wanted, but couldn't have. 

“When I saw her in that bassinet I felt like I don’t even deserve to touch her. I’m still not sure if I do or ever will, Felicity. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to be hold her.”

“You will.” She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. She had no doubt he would be able to, but even if he couldn't she would never hold it against him. Alexa was theirs biologically, but neither of them had any say about bringing her into this world. Neither were obliged to love her, to be parents to her. Even if she had somehow connected with Alexa, it wouldn't be right to force Oliver to care about her or expect him to be a father to her from the get go. “You don't have to do this right now, Oliver. You have time. We have time. There’s no need to rush it. There are lot of things I'm not sure of too. We'll work on this. . . this parenting thing together.”

“Thank you.” He gave her a sad smile and let her hand go so that she could feed Alexa her milk.

When Felicity had first noticed his hesitancy, she hadn’t had the time to figure out as to why he — a man who was so hell bent on saving his daughter — seemed so afraid to even touch her. However now that the chaos was over, she was able to see what was troubling him.

She could see it in his eyes.

It was his past that was holding him back. It was whatever that had happened in those five years he was away that was making him keep his distance from Alexa.

She may not know much about what had happened to him, but the scars she had seen, and the fact that he worked for the Bratva told her he must have been forced to do things he probably didn’t want to do – the same way ARGUS had forced her. Yet, there was a difference. She was never fully aware of the extent of what she had done. She never knew exactly how many people her machines had killed. She had never really witnessed someone die because of her, unlike Oliver probably had. She guessed that was probably why it had been easier for her to let her instincts take over the moment she saw Alexa and Oliver found it difficult to handle the situation. 

However, she was positive that if Oliver managed to overcome his doubts, he'd become a wonderful father. He already was really, he just needed to believe it. 

“You’ll be a great dad. I’m sure.” His face brightened up a bit at her words, and he suddenly got up as if he had an epiphany of sorts.

“I have a gift for Alexa.” He walked across the room to get something from the walk-in closet.

“A gift?!” Hoping she'd get a clue about what kind of gift, she keenly listened to him move around in the closet.

“Oliver! Did you find it yet?” She whisper yelled making sure not to startle Alexa.

She planned to go and check on him if he hadn't returned by the time Alexa had emptied her bottle, but just as Alexa finished he stepped out -- smirking, and hiding something behind his back. That moment he looked no different than the young boy who had surprised her with numerous gifts and she felt like the same young girl who was excited to know what it was.

“What is it?” She narrowed her eyes as she set the empty bottle aside.

“It's something I've been keeping safe for you for the last five years.”

“What?” She gently laid Alexa back on the bed, and tried to get a peek at whatever Oliver was hiding.

“Here.” Finally he put his hands forth showing her the gift.

Tears formed in her eyes when she recognized what it was. “Oliver… is that… is that Molly?”

“Aha,” He sat on the spot where he had been sitting before, and gave the doll to her. 

Molly looked exactly the same as she did the last time she had seen her. There was a blue paint stain on her bright pink dress and one of her pigtails were still messier than the other. It seemed even though he had taken good care of her doll and kept it clean, he hadn’t tried to fix or change it.

Tears began to flow freely as she cuddled her long lost toy. “How did — when did— why?“ She tilted her head and stared at him for awhile, trying to understand why he had done it. Hundreds of questions popped up in her head, but she couldn’t form an actual sentence to ask any of them properly. 

Memories came rushing in, as she stared into the big round eyes painted on Molly’s face.

She remembered the day her mother had given Molly to her and how she had clutched onto Molly the night ARGUS had taken her from her bed. She remembered Molly being there with her the day she met Oliver for the first time. She remembered sharing every secret, every happy story, every despair with Molly when she was young and she remembered how much she had missed her when she was all alone after Oliver had gone.

“ l only had a few things in my backpack when I was running away. A sandwich, few dollars I stole from one of the guards, all the cards you’ve given me over the years and Molly.”

“You took all the cards with you too? All of them?” She cherished everything he'd ever given to her too. Some of them were taken from her by Malcolm and Laurel, but she had most of it stored in her house in Star City. However, she had no idea that Oliver had taken his cards with him when he ran away. She had thought ARGUS cleaning crew had thrown them out when they cleaned his room after his escape.

“Yeah. I still have them.” He confessed bashfully, raking his fingers through his -- barely there -- hair. “I heard that Malcom was going to throw most of our old personal items out. So, I thought I'd take the cards and Molly with me. I thought I'll keep her safe for you... keep her safe for a moment like this.” His eyes drifted to Alexa.

Looking at their daughter and Molly, Felicity felt kind of thankful he'd taken her If he hadn't she would have never been able to see her again or had the opportunity to see her daughter play with her. Still, she was angry at him for keeping it a secret from her.

“But, why didn't you ever tell me?” They've had only a handful of face to face encounters during the last five years, so she could understand why Oliver had failed to mention Molly then, but she couldn't understand why he had never mentioned it during those many phone conversations they've had.

“I don't know. Maybe I wanted to be able to see your face when I told you Molly is with me. But the timing was never right.” He grinned sheepishly, but before Felicity could respond he continued on with his explanation. “But, there's another reason – a very selfish reason for keeping Molly with me,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“oh?”

“It might sound silly... I mean some people I met and who knew about Molly thought it was, but – “

“But?”

“Knowing Molly is with me made me feel closer to you.” He admitted, his eyes boring into hers.

“It's not silly, Oliver.” Molly was more than just a doll to them. It might not make any sense to anyone who didn't understand the kind of bond they shared or didn't understand what it was like to grow up in a place like ARGUS, but it made sense to her. 

“But, If you'd asked me I would’ve given her to you happily.” She would have still been lonely without both Molly and Oliver, but at least she would have known that Molly was safe and Oliver wasn’t alone.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, but you now owe me for not telling me about her,” she said, in a playful warning tone.

“I'm sorry Felicity.” He was being sincere despite the fact that Felicity had merely said it jokingly. “I'd happily do anything you ask me," he promised, with a hand over his heart.

“Anything?” She bit her bottom lip. For some reason the way he said it made her wonder if that 'anything' included doing non-platonic activities she'd only read and seen in books and movies. 

“Hmm... mmm...” The cheeky grin that spread across his face implied that he knew to where her thoughts had drifted and the realization made her blush.

“I didn't mean it to sound like I wanted something like that.” she denied it, when that was exactly what she was thinking.

“Something like what exactly?” Oliver raised an eyebrow.

She was about to babble her way out of the embarrassment, but thankfully Alexa muttered something and stopped her from possibly further embarrassing herself.

“She seems to love Molly already.” she smiled down at Alexa who was trying to grab Molly from her hand.

As Felicity moved the doll closer to Alexa, she noticed how eagerly Oliver was watching them as though he'd been thinking about gifting the doll to their daughter for a long time. 

“Do you want to give Molly to her?” Maybe he was still not prepared to interact with Alexa like that, nonetheless she felt like she should ask him first.

“I'm not sure if I should.”

She gave him a nod to let him know it was alright and turned back to Alexa.

Right when she was about to give Molly to Alexa, Oliver suddenly grabbed her by the elbow and stopped her. “I think I want to try.” He sounded unsure, but his eyes seemed determined.

“Sure.” She placed Molly in his tentative hands.

He moved around the bed, and climbed it from the opposite side to get closer to Alexa.

He gazed at the precious little human being lying between them for a moment as though he was trying to figure out how to actually approach her.

The little squealing noise Alexa made at the sight of Molly dangling from Oliver's hand seemed to have made Oliver relax and somehow encouraged him to crawl closer to her. "Alexa, say hi to Molly,” he said, moving the doll towards her.

Alexa grabbed the doll by one of its legs, and made an excited noise, lips making up a very cute 'o' as if to match the red lips drawn on Molly's face.

“Take good care of Molly or your mom will be angry.” He stared at her, eyes gleaming with the tears he was holding back.

“No I won't!” Felicity claimed, light-heartedly punching him on the arm.

Oliver chuckled as he slowly let go off the doll, but before he had completely moved his hand away Alexa wrapped her other hand around his index finger.

He stared at her overwhelmed and speechless as she began to coo something to Molly who was now hanging upside down on her other hand.

His forehead creased, and shoulders stiffened. He seemed to want to let her hold on to him, but something within him seemed to be trying to stop him from doing so. Yet, he was fighting it. Felicity could see his struggle on his face. He seemed determined to not let his demons win, and it indeed looked as if he was starting to win the longer he let Alexa hold onto his finger.

The worried lines on his forehead faded away slowly and his smile returned to his face.

He took a deep breath and tentatively brushed Alexa's cheek with his free hand. “Hey there, my little princess,“ he uttered softly to Alexa who responded to him with another long winded baby babble.

Felicity's heart swelled with happiness at the sight, and she thanked her old friend Molly for bringing the father and daughter together finally.

After the conversation they just had Felicity hadn’t thought she would get to see him interact with her this way so soon. Then again, she shouldn't be all that surprised. Alexa was such a little heart stealer and Oliver, despite everything he'd gone through still had a very loving and a caring soul – even if he probably believed he had lost it.

She hoped that with a bit more time and encouragement he might actually be able to hold their daughter. But, he first had to realize that he deserved happiness and love just as much as herself and Alexa.

“She babbles like her mother.” Oliver laughed.

Felicity pretended to be annoyed by his comment, when in truth she found it to be very endearing.

“It’s one of my many favorite things about you.” He put a hand on her shoulder, and let it slowly slide down her arm, setting every inch of skin his hand touched on fire. 

"Oliver?" As her eyes followed his hand, she was starting to see the signs she missed all those years ago; the way he touched her shoulder, the way he held her hand, and the way he smiled at her. He truly had thought of her as more than a friend for a long time. She wished she had realized it before and hadn't bought into Laurel's lies about Oliver. She wished she hadn't seen them kiss on Valentines day. She wished she hadn't drawn conclusions about Oliver's feelings for Laurel over a kiss that happened a decade ago.

She was taught many things at ARGUS, but they never taught her how not to be an insecure teenager nor had any of her lessons helped her see that the boy she loved probably loved her back as much as she did.

He wrapped his large hand around her wrist, over the bracelet he'd given. "Thank you for keeping your promise."

She looked at him and found his eyes staring into her own, bearing the same warmth and care she'd seen in his eyes that lonely night at the library – almost a decade ago – when he'd put the bracelet on her hand.

* * *

 

_He'd come up from behind her that night and had just grabbed her wrist before sitting next to her._

“ _What?” She'd asked annoyed. It had been six days since valentines day. And she'd not still recovered from seeing Laurel and Oliver kissing in his room. She'd been avoiding him, burying herself in books and coding, but tonight he'd found her when she'd not expecting him to._

“ _Happy Birthday!” He'd said softly, slowly sliding something on to her wrist._

“ _What's this? It's not even my birthday yet!” She'd tried to read what was written on the beads of the bracelet as he put it on her, but his fingers had been covering most of it._

“ _I know, but I wanted to give it to you now. Since you know ... There's no February 29th this year." He had turned the bracelet around her wrist and she had finally been able to read what the letters on the beads read._

'Forever & Always'

_Her eyes had teared up reading the three words that meant so much to both of them from the day they'd met. When she had lifted her eyes to him and seen his warm blue eyes gazing at her, the anger and the sadness she'd been feeling slowly started to fade._

“ _Felicity, I don't know why, but for the past few days I felt like you've been ignoring me...Is everything alright with you?” He'd added in a much more serious tone, taking her hand into his._

“ _There was just . .. just lot of things going on up here...” She'd gestured at her head, dodging his eyes and trying not to let it show how heart broken she'd been.“I'm fine now.” She had to be fine with it. She had thought that he might not ever see her more than his kid-friend. In any case she wouldn't have been able to stay angry at him for so long even if he had never done any of this. It would have hurt her more than him if she had tried to distance herself from him for any longer than she already had._

“ _Even if you're fine. I just want to say... that … I'm sorry If I did anything to hurt you in anyway.”_

“ _Everything is fine now. I'm alright” She'd plastered on a smile before taking one more look at her gift. Still to this day she didn't know how he'd manage to make it. It wasn't as if he could buy beads from anywhere. He had to have somehow made them secretly and that thought alone made her heart ache._

“ _And thank you for the gift, Oliver. It's beautiful. I'll always wear it. I'm never going to take it off.” She'd kissed him on the cheek like she had always done whenever he'd given her a gift and smiled when she saw the almost eighteen year old blush. She would at least always have this, she'd figured at the time._

* * *

 “Oliver? Felicity?” a woman whispered, knocking softly on their door, and it brought Felicity back to reality. Her first instinct hearing the voice was to check on Alexa and then to see if her gun was somewhere she could easily reach.

“It’s just Lyla.” Oliver assured her as he got out of bed to open the door.

 “Sorry if I'm interrupting. I brought you two a little afternoon snack and some clothes for Felicity. Nikolai got some of her things from her place.” Felicity could barely see Lyla’s face over Oliver’s shoulder, but she was able to spot a traveling bag next to her feet which she guessed were her belongings Nikolai had brought.

“Thanks, Lyla. You can keep the food on the study table.“ Oliver picked the bag up by its straps and let Lyla inside.

“If you two want I can look after Alexa for a little while, until you two have your snack “ Lyla turned around to Felicity after placing the food tray on the table. “Sara --  my daughter is awake, and I think she would love to meet Alexa.” It was clear to Felicity that Lyla was subtly or maybe not so subtly offering them a chance to have some moments alone. However, she didn’t feel ready yet to be not more than a few feet away from Alexa. She wanted either herself or Oliver to be with her at all times. Maybe it wasn’t practical, but she just felt that she would be losing her mind every single moment that Alexa wasn’t with them. 

“We just got her, Oliver.” She cast a quick glance at Alexa who was playing with Molly’s hair and back at Oliver. “What if something happened to her when we’re not there?”

Oliver agreed with a quick firm nod.

“You don’t have to worry about her safety. We’ll be just two doors down from here, and other than me and John, there will be two more Bratva people there. The nanny that takes care of Sara is well trained too.”

Felicity shook her head. She wasn’t convinced.

“It’s alright. I understand. It's just... Johnny told me everything you two had to go through the last few days... So I just thought you two might want some rest and Alexa might enjoy the change of scenery.

Felicity took Alexa into her arms and wondered if she should take the offer. They'd been keeping her in the bedroom for more than a day. It would probably be good for her to be around another child and have a change of scenery like Lyla said.

“Trust me. It will be good for Alexa and you both. You'll be able to better take care of her if you're well rested. You'll be more alert.” She looked at Lyla again. Lyla was probably talking from experience, and Oliver trusted the Diggles with his own life. So she felt she could trust them with Alexa’s too. Yet she wasn't sure if it would be the best thing to do, so she glanced at Oliver for his thoughts. 

“If you think it's a good idea and if you're alright with it then -” He wasn't helpful at all. He seemed as unsure as she was.

“She’s so beautiful,” Lyla said, stepping closer to the bed.

 Felicity found herself holding onto Alexa closely than before as though she was afraid Lyla would just snatch her from her hands and run off.

“Felicity, If you're not ready that's fine. I'm not going to take her, but if you are alright with me taking Alexa for a few minutes, I promise I’ll take good care of her.” 

Felicity's eyes ran over Alexa's tiny form. No matter how worried she was she couldn't keep her in that room forever. She needed to do this one day another, she realized. 

She held onto her greedily for a few more seconds before finally deciding to let Lyla take her. "Take Molly too." She directed her eyes at the poor doll that was still hanging upside down from Alexa's hand. The idea of Molly being there with Alexa somehow made it easier for her to let go of her. 

"Ok, I will."

Felicity felt like she had made a horrible mistake the moment Lyla scooped her little Alexa from her hands. She felt an emptiness she'd never felt before and her fingers itched to take her back. 

“Trust me, Felicity. John and I won’t let anything happen to her.” A warm tear rolled down her cheek as she watched Lyla walk away with her daughter. She felt like an idiot for feeling so emotional over their trusted friend taking her daughter to a room just a few doors down from where they were, but she simply couldn’t control herself.

“Felicity.” She didn't even realize she was following Lyla to the door until Oliver put a hand on her shoulder, and stopped her.

“So, should I bring her back in a few minutes or you two will come and get her?” Lyla asked, looking over her shoulder.

“We’ll come and get her in a few minutes.” Oliver quickly replied, gripping Felicity's shoulder little bit sternly than before. It was hard to say whether he was trying to comfort her or whether he was seeking comfort, but either way she appreciated the comfort of his touch, his presence gave her. 

“She'll be fine. I promise.” With that Lyla left, closing the door behind her.

“She’ll be alright.” The strain in Oliver's voice made it apparent that he didn’t feel right about letting Alexa go either. 

“Oliver.” When she turned around and saw him looking as worried as she felt, she burst into tears. If he hadn’t pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her , she was sure she would have collapsed.

“I don’t even know why I’m crying. She’s not even that far away.” She held on to Oliver tightly, her face buried in his chest. “I know we’ve only had her in our lives barely for a couple of days and it just... just – “

“Feels incomplete without her?” Oliver asked, rubbing slow gentle circles on her back. 

“Yeah.”

“But I have a feeling that’s not the only reason why you’re crying.”

She pulled away a little from the embrace and stared up at him questioningly.

“The exhaustion is finally catching up on you. And I don’t mean just physical exhaustion.”

She pondered over what he said for a moment and realized he was right. She was mentally exhausted and it wasn’t simply because Lyla took Alexa away. It wasn’t simply because of what they had gone through last night. It wasn’t simply because they almost hadn’t made it out of there and it wasn’t just because of the fact that she now suddenly found herself responsible for bringing up another human being.

It was an accumulation of everything that had happened to her over the last two decades. It was about losing her mother at such a young age. It was about being trapped in ARGUS and being experimented upon like some kind of an animal. It was about missing Oliver for every second he was away from her for the last five years. It was about having to help ARGUS catch him, when she didn’t want to. It was about trying to be strong and trying to be there for both Alexa and Oliver for the last few days while keeping so much emotions bottled up.

Since now, that she was finally free to express what she felt without the prying eyes of ARGUS, now that she was alone with Oliver, every feeling she had kept pushed down was coming to the surface all at once and she didn’t know how to handle it.

“Shh...shh...It’s alright.” Oliver whispered.

“I feel silly. You probably think it's nothing compared to what you had to go through the last few years.”

“Don't ever say that Felicity! Never!” He cupped her face, forcing her to look into his eyes and nothing else. “I'd never think that. You shouldn't think like that either. What you had to go through the last five years isn't any less than what I had to go through. " He wiped away her tears with his thumb and kissed her forehead.

She couldn’t find the strength to reply she just hung onto him tightly. He made her feel protected and loved in a way that only he could. 

"There were times I thought you were safer at ARGUS, but when I heard they've made a child without even--" He paused, as if he needed a moment to reel in the anger he was feeling at the though of what ARGUS had done to them without their knowledge. " And when they put me through all that torture, I realized they could have done all that to you too. I realized they could do things far worse than I could even think of. Yes, we hated ARGUS. We knew we were trapped, and we knew we deserved more, we deserved better, but it had become our normal, our way of life that I don't think either of us had truly realized the enormity of what they had done to us... what they were doing to you and Alexa. I didn't see it until I was back there again."

Oliver was probably right. ARGUS probably was the most horrible place on Earth, but everything that had happened, everything they had gone through had led them to this moment and led them to Alexa. Things could’ve been better for sure, but she didn’t even want to wish that ARGUS had never taken her because that would mean she would lose Oliver and Alexa.

“And you don't always have to be strong for me, Felicity. You don't have to think you have to bear all the responsibilities by yourself. I know I have lot of things to sort out, but like you said we're in this thing together and I want to be there for you too.”

She didn't doubt him for a second. He'd always been there for her when they were young. “I love you, Oliver.” She hugged him, banding her arms around him even tighter than before.

“Love you too,” he whispered before kissing the top of her head.

She closed her eyes and let the sound of his heartbeat calm her.

“You should eat something. You didn’t really eat anything much since yesterday.” He lift her face up to him.

“I didn’t see you eat anything much either.” She shot him a challenging glare.

He caught her by her hand and led her to the bed. “Then why don’t we both sit and eat something?”  Gesturing her to sit, he rushed away to bring her the food.

"I'm not hungry." She didn't feel like eating. She just wanted to go and get Alexa back. She looked away when Oliver sat on the bed and placed the tray between them.

“Felicity just eat one sandwich. If you don’t, I won’t either.” He challenged her knowing she wouldn’t want him to starve. It was a trick he had done more than a few times when she had refused to eat because she wasn’t feeling well.

“I hate you.” She grabbed a sandwich and started munching on it with her eyes narrowed on Oliver.

“No you don’t.” Shaking his head, he took a sandwich from the plate and bit into it.

At times she'd though they'd changed and that their roles in each others lives had changed over the years - maybe they have - but as they sat on the bed bantering -- as she rolled her eyes at the mischievous grin Oliver was flashing at her while he took his second bite of the sandwich --  she felt as if time had stayed still and they were those same two innocent kids that they once were.

 

\- To be continued -

 


	10. April 10th 2016 (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
> 
> Hope you guys trust me and read the chapter until the end... 
> 
> I'm not going to do anything to taint their 'Forever & Always' love 
> 
> (especially when Oliver is talking about his experiences.. ) ;)
> 
> 888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
> 
> IMPORTANT NOTE: If you're reading this story for the first time this note won't be important, but I edited out the part about the simulation machine that violated her thoughts, because I felt it was too much for Felicity's character to go through and not right. When I started writing it I had something else in mind but it turned to something else. So it's been removed now.

**April 10th 2016 (Part 2)**

“So…” A couple of sandwiches later Oliver put the food tray aside.

“So..” She clasped her hands together awkwardly as he moved a bit closer to her.

They had talked about Alexa and what ARGUS plans maybe, but they still hadn't really talked about both of them, or sorted out whatever misgivings they might have about one another.

“Oliver, have you ever— “ She quickly stopped herself realizing that this probably wasn't the best way to start that much needed conversation about their relationship. Sure she was curious to know if Oliver had been intimate with someone during the five years he had been away, but she was also very scared to know his answer. He had gotten the freedom and plenty of opportunities to explore. She wouldn't blame him if he had, but that also didn't mean she wouldn't feel a bit hurt and a bit intimidated by it all.

She had very little to no experience when it came to sex since she'd been a prisoner at ARGUS her whole life. So she was worried she wouldn't be able to compare to the women Oliver had been with — if there in fact had been any.

Even when she had been living in her own place she hadn't been allowed to bring anyone other than ARGUS agents there, and that too only for business and not for pleasure. Not that she had wanted to bring any man other than Oliver into her house, but it would have been nice to know that she actually had a choice.

“Have I ever, what?” Oliver asked, but the mischievous grin on his face let her know that he had already figured out what she had meant to ask.

“I shouldn't have. Forget about it.” She stood up, and tried to walk away, but Oliver caught her by her wrist, and sat her back down.

“Oliver, just forget about it!”

“No, I want you to know.” With his hand still tightly wrapped around her wrist, he moved even closer to her on the bed. “The first year I was away I met a man who used to work for the Australian Secret Intelligence Services.”

“Your first time was with a man? Not that I’m judging you, or there’s anything wrong with that, but I just... didn't know that — “

He huffed out a little laugh at the assumption she made. “No, he just took me to a strip club.”

"Oh?" She felt as if she knew where his story was going, and she wasn't sure she wanted to hear it. She had only wanted a short and a simple answer. Not where, when and how it all had come about.

“Someone gave me a drink, and it had a drug called, ' _Mirakuru'_ mixed in to it. Have you heard of it?”

“Yes, and I'm so glad you're OK Oliver.” She counted her blessing as she placed her hand over Oliver's. Mirakuru was a drug that made people lose their inhibitions almost instantaneously. Some have even committed suicide under its influence. So in that moment she didn't care about what happened with who at the strip club. She was just happy that Oliver had somehow survived the effects of Mirakuru.

“Me too. Or else I wouldn't have gotten the chance to do this.” He said as he cupped her face, and kissed her forehead. “I thought it would be so easy to destroy ARGUS, and get you out of there. I didn't think I'd have to make allies with criminals because ARGUS had connection with most law enforcement agency out there, and I certainly didn't think it would actually take me five years.” 

Tears welled up in her eyes when she realized that Oliver had always planned to get her out of ARGUS even though he had refused to take her along with him when he had escaped. While she understood that he may have had his reasons for not sharing his plans with her, she still wished he had told her. If he had she would have had something more to look forward to while she sat at her desk at ARGUS feeling so trapped and hopeless. 

“I went into the world thinking I knew so much about it. I mean, I knew facts and figures, but I didn’t know much about people like I thought I did.” Oliver explained.

She didn't have the extent of experience Oliver had, but she got what he meant. They were aware that people came in all shades of grey, but growing up in a controlled environment like ARGUS, they probably didn't have the ability to see those shades as well as someone who had grown up in the real world had.

“I was so naive and too trusting back then, Felicity. I just took that drink without thinking.” He paused and let out a sigh as if he still regretted taking that drink. “There was a girl named Shado at the club. She was a dancer there.”

“I don’t think I like this story.” She mumbled almost to herself. Hearing the girl's name made the story feel more real than it had felt a second ago, and she didn't want to hear anymore.

“She was wearing a blonde wig and glasses. I think she was playing some sort of a character on stage, and when I saw her up there... I thought she was you. Maybe it was the drug or maybe I wanted her to be you. I'm not sure exactly what was going through my head that moment.”

He might have thought that knowing that tidbit about mistaking the dancer for her would make it easier for her to listen to his story, but somehow it made it worse. It hurt her more.

“She took me to a private room, and — “

“Stop! I know I brought this topic up, but I don’t think I want to know all the details. I mean would you want to know the details about how I ended up kissing Bob one night?” She blurted out about the kiss without meaning to.

“You what? You kissed Bob? Bob the guard?” Anger and envy stormed in Oliver's eyes as he glared at her. His behavior made her speculate if his despise over the name 'Bob' had anything to do with the young guard at ARGUS. Then again, that would have to mean that Oliver had felt something for her even back then. She shook her head, thinking that it wasn't possible. 

“I can't believe you kissed Bob!” He muttered again, pouting like a jealous little boy.

“Trust me, I can't believe it either. I was doing an experiment with pheromones, and something went wrong. And next thing I know I was kissing Bob, or rather Bob was kissing me. I mean... I don't know who kissed who first, but I pushed him off of me as soon as I realized what was going on.” She wouldn't lie. Bob was an attractive man, but she had never given any serious thoughts towards kissing anyone other than Oliver. If that accident hadn't happened, and pheromones hadn't messed with her brain, she was sure she wouldn't have let Bob come anywhere near her, let alone that be her first kiss.

“But I thought they sent him away?”

“They brought him back few months after you were gone.”

“So you just kissed him?” The accusing tone in his voice made her lose her temper a little.

“It was just a kiss Oliver, and it was an accident. It wasn't like I took him to a private room somewhere, and I gave him a striptease like your friend Shado probably did.” She scoffed as she tried to get herself free from his hold, but he kept a firm grip on her hand.

“Nothing happened, Felicity." He confessed with a smile playing on his lips.

“What?” She stopped trying to wriggle away and stared at him trying to understand the meaning behind his sneaky smile.

“Nothing happened between Shado and I. She sat on my lap, and then she kissed me. And then... I don’t know… I just... I just woke up from whatever the trance I was in, and I realized that she isn’t you. I realized I shouldn’t be kissing her.”

“But why would you even tell me this story if nothing happened between the two of you?” Felicity pouted, feeling a little embarrassed about jumping to conclusions again, but in her defense Oliver was definitely wording the story as if something indeed had happened between him and Shado. 

“Because that was my first encounter with a girl from the outside word, and also because you look cute when you're jealous,” he uttered right before placing a quick kiss on her pouted lips.

"Rude! I really thought that — " She continued to pout, and Oliver continued to look at her as if he was amused by her reaction. However, she didn't find it amusing at all.

“But I won’t lie. There were times I had to put on an act in front of Bratva, where I had to do a bit more than give someone a simple kiss. But... what you’re asking … _that_ never happened.” He threaded his fingers with hers, and gazed into her eyes as if pleading her to understand the circumstances in which he had to do the things he had done. He had never let anything go too far. He had never had the desire to. But Bratva expected him to behave a certain way with women, so he had needed to touch, and kiss women a certain way in front of them to keep his facade. He had never done anything that would be considered inappropriate to be do in public, even if it was in front of the Bratva. He had always known where the line was.

“Oliver, I was just … curious. Because... because I don't really have any real experience in... you know... _that_. I wasn't really expecting explanations.“

“So there really was just that kiss with Bob then? That means you have a lot to learn.” He leaned in and whispered in her ear, waking her up from her musings.

“Wait! Is that why you hated the name Bob? You _were_ jealous? of Bob? Even back then?” 

“Yes, even back then Felicity.” He kissed the tip of her nose, making her giggle like a little girl.

“Wow! So that's why you hated the name Bob? Why didn’t you ever say something?”

“I was afraid of what they might do to you if they ever find out how I really feel about you, and I wasn't sure what you'd say either. And also – ”

“Also?” She was very curious to know what else could have kept him from confessing all these years. Was it Laurel or was there something more?

“You were more than a couple of years younger than me Felicity. Even if I wasn't really an adult when I realized you were more than just a friend to me, I just felt it would be— “ His love had been so innocent and pure, but as they grew up he had tried to do right thing and keep some distance.

“Kind of not right? I guess I can understand that.” The thought had crossed her mind a few times, but back then she'd been more convinced his reason for never stepping over that line had been his feelings for Laurel.

“Oliver, but.. how long have you been– ”

“In love with you?"

“Yeah?” she asked, adjusting her glasses simply out of nervousness.

“Always.“ He took both her hands into his and rested his forehead against hers. 

She felt a blush quickly creep up her cheeks seeing how effortless it was for him to answer that question. He hadn't even taken a second to think over it or seemed uncertain about his feelings.

“I was in love with you even before I knew what love is. Probably from the first day I saw you.” 

“But — “ She closed her eyes as she tried to take in everything he was saying. By now she knew Oliver had been in love with her for a long time, but she hadn't thought he had _always_ been in love with her. 

“But what? You don't believe me? Or... wait! You thought I was in love with Lau–“ He stopped mid-sentence when he figured out why she was so taken aback by his confession.

“But you and her.... I saw you kiss her on valentine's day.” She cringed at the image that popped into her head right then. She still felt that sting, and ache in her heart. 

“Felicity, she kissed me, and I was a teenage boy that didn’t have enough self control to step back quickly enough. But I did... I stepped back." He pointed out, " I never felt anything like what you probably think I felt for Laurel. I've always wanted to be with you and only you.” Before she could do or say anything, he grabbed her by her waist, and devoured her lips as if to prove his point.

She gave into the kiss instantly, pressing herself against his chest, and hands grabbing onto his t-shirt.

As his hands began to run up her sides, and over the curves of her breasts, she felt the urge to tear his t-shirt off. Unfortunately, before she could do anything to fulfill her urge he slowly moved back, breaking the kiss.

Grumbling at the lost of contact, she opened her eyes to find out why he stopped.

“I want to show you something.” He took her face by her chin, and turned her eyes towards that framed sheet of paper that caught her attention earlier in the day.  “Do you remember the card you gave me when I turned nine? One with the three tier cake, and all the things I loved?”

She was still too caught up in their kiss to form any meaningful words so she nodded, eyes dazedly staring at the sheet of paper.

“This entire house is made inspired by your drawing.”

It was then she truly understood what he was saying. She sprung out of bed, and ran to where the card was. “Oliver, I can't believe you did all this!” Running her hand over the glass that protected the card, she laughed at the images she had drawn. It looked worse than she remembered. The lines were squiggly and she couldn't tell any animals apart. Dogs, cats, horses, they all looked the same to her. Yet, she still saw a resemblance between the windows in the card and the ones in the bedroom.

“I wasn't sure if we would ever be able to spend even a night in this house, but I wanted to make this house for both of us. I thought even if we might never get a chance to live here, at least one of our dreams would have become true.” Oliver came behind her and banded his arms around her.

“I can't wait to see the whole house!” She leaned back against him, and pictured both of them standing there, in the exact same position twenty years later. She had no doubts that their love could withstand test of time. ARGUS may find them one day, separate them, try to break them, but she knew neither ARGUS nor anything else could ever destroy the bond they shared or the love they felt for each other.

“Felicity...” She felt Oliver gently brush her hair away from her back.

“Hmm?” Anticipation made her heart flutter as his lips lingered along the nape of her neck. His scent, his presence surrounded her, and she held onto his arms for leverage as though she was afraid she would lose all control of her body when he would finally kiss her.

He nudged her forward with his weight until she was standing with her breasts pressed against the wall.

 She could feel his arousal grow behind her as he pulled her collar down and placed hot kisses on the back of her neck.

“Oliver...” His name escaped her lips in a sigh.

One of his hands slipped below the hem of her shirt, and traveled up her thigh. She could feel herself getting wet when his hand began to teasingly slide over the thin material of her underwear.

“You're so wet.” 

Before she could even grasp what he had said he had spun her around so that she was standing with her back to the wall.

She expected him to devour her lips, rip her shirt open, and take her right then, but instead he took her glasses off and placed them on the desk near by. 

“What?” She tilted her head and stared at him, trying to understand why he was just standing there staring at her without doing anything else.

He didn't reply. He simply closed the little gap that was left between them with a quick step, and captured her lips in a mind numbing kiss. She felt his fingers working on unbuttoning her shirt, as her own fingers traveled up his broad chest.

“Shit!” He cussed, as he grudgingly broke the kiss to unfasten that pesky last button that just didn't seem to budge.

“Oliver...” She pulled on his t-shirt desperate to feel his warmth against her again.

“Don't worry. I'm not done yet.” Giving up on being gentle he pulled he shirt apart with both his hands making the button fly off to somewhere across the room.

“You better not be...” She warned pulling on his ear lobe with her teeth.

“Trust me, I'm not.” He pushed her against the wall again, and ran a finger down through the valley between her breasts and over the planes of her stomach, gently opening up her shirt a little bit more. The action awakened made her crave for his touch even more.

She didn't know where she found the courage, but she moved him back a little with a hand on his chest, and let her shirt drop off her shoulders exposing herself to him. However just as she heard the shirt fall to the floor behind her, she felt unsure about her decision to reveal herself to him so boldly. She looked down at herself. She still had the lacy underwear on, but other than that there was nothing else she could hide behind now. She wondered if Oliver found her hips too narrow, breasts to be too small, and her waist not so small. Insecurities she thought she had overcome as a teenager were resurfacing somehow, and she covered her breasts with her arms. She knew Oliver loved her, and would love her no matter what, but he had never seen her like this. As a matter of fact no other man had. Sure, she had taken her clothes off for medical examinations, and such, but those were different situations all together.

However her doubts were very short lived. They disappeared the instant she saw the way his eyes were raking over her body – so intense, and darkened by a lust that seemed to be compelling her to give herself completely to him. "You look gorgeous." He moved her arms away and palmed her breast.

Her eyes fluttered shut at the contact and she clung to the wall behind her for support as he slowly slid his large hands down her body.

But her eyes shot opened when she felt his fingers freeze over the little scar she had gotten six years ago when an arrow scraped her hip while they were sword fighting at the ARGUS gym.

“You told me it didn't leave a scar?” He glared at her, pulling her forward towards him by her hips.

“Sorry, I lied.” She pulled the best puppy dog face she possibly could at the moment, and hoped he would forgive her.

“Why?” He gripped her hips harder, his finger tips digging into her skin.

It tugged on her heart strings to see how affected, and concerned he was of this tiny scars of hers when he had much larger and deeper ones scattered through out his body. “I didn't want you to worry about it.” He had worried over her for days after that arrow had slightly cut her hip and she knew he would blame himself if it had even left a tiniest mark on her. So she had lied to him.

“You should have told me.” It was as all he said before pulling her up by her hips and pressing his lips hard, and violently against hers as if it was her punishment for lying to him.

She kissed him back equally fevently, wrapping her limbs around him.

He walked them both to bed and gently laid her up on the cozy mattress.

“Beautiful,” he mumbled as he stood at the foot of the bed admiring her.

Feeling that it was unfair that he was still clothed, when she lay practically naked on his bed, she sat up, and slowly crawled back towards him to get his t-shirt off of him.

"Felicity." He caught her hands and stopped her. She only had to look into his eyes to understand that he was worried about her seeing his scars. The night she had seen his scars he hadn't really been aware of his surroundings or his own state much to feel so self-conscious, but now - as he stood under the sunlight creeping through the windows - he seemed a bit wary of letting her see them.

“It's alright, Oliver. They don't bother me like you think. “ She tried to peel the t-shirt off of him again, but he still didn't let her.

“It's not just the scars, Felicity. I know you are not like others, and you don't really care, but still sometimes I feel like if you knew how I got those scars, and things I had to do you'd probably hate m—”

She shushed him with a little peck on his lips.“You're wrong. I do care. I do care that you got hurt, and you were in pain. I care about you, and I would never hate you for the things you had to do in the past. I love you and nothing can change that.” She could never hate him. If anything her heart would probably ache for him more if he ever told her the stories behind his scars. 

She placed her palm over his fast beating heart, and looked up at him. ”I know in here you're still the same Oliver that thought I was an angel. Same Oliver I've been in love with as long as I remember. Same Oliver that promised to be my friend forever and always.” She felt tears run down her cheeks as flashes of their first meeting began to play in her mind.

“Your super power is still here, Oliver.” If there wasn't at least an ounce of the Oliver she knew left in him, he wouldn't have called her every night for the last few years, he wouldn't have risked his life for Alexa or offered to sacrifice himself to save them both.

He took her other hand kissed her knuckles. “I love you, Felicity.” She felt his heartbeat race even faster under her hand as he trailed up her arm with kisses, tugging her towards him in the process. His actions were both sweet and arousing, but she wanted more, she needed more. So she slightly pushed him away and fell back on the bed, her eyes inviting him to join her.

His blue eyes roamed over her, but the way his brow slowly began to crease again made her worry again. “What's wrong?”

“Protection...” He winced as if he was cursing himself for not being prepared.

“Don't ask me why or how, but there's one in my backpack.” She admitted shyly. Even though she hadn't known when or how it would happen, she had been ready for a moment like this for a while now.

“It wouldn't be you if you weren't ready for everything.” Thankfully he just winked at her and scampered off looking for the bag without asking her why she had a condom in her backpack.

She watched him from the bed, but every second she spent waiting in that massive bed felt like torture.

When she saw Oliver finally walk over to the bed she wrapped her fingers around the waist band of her underwear and began to shimmy out of it, tugging it down deliberately slowly to tease him.

His chest heaved as he watched her slither out of the soaked garment, and she could see his arousal grow under his pants as he cast his eyes at the wetness between her legs.

As soon as she threw her underwear aside, he quickly pulled his shirt off, and cast a quick glance at her as if to check her expression.

She gave him a reassuring nod. It hurt her to see those scars and tattoos that embellished his body and to think what kind of torture he may have faced, but it didn't repel her. It never had and it never would. Instead she admired him for surviving, and coming out of it stronger. Even the way he stood – with his shoulders straight and chest forward – attested to how his experiences had changed and molded him.

And as she lay there watching him tug his pants off and roll the condom on, her eyes didn't miss the way his body was molded and sculptured either. Her hands itched to touch him, itched to run her fingers over those defined muscles, itched to feel his strong arms around her, and the yearning only grew when she saw him crawl towards her, his rough hands running up her legs.

She closed her eyes, and her hands reached out to him as he so tenderly kissed the scar on her hip. She had neither realized how much she had needed him to kiss her there nor that it would give rise to such a wonderful feeling within her until he had done it. It felt like a promise of sorts – a promise to love her, keep her safe.

“Ah!” She moaned as his finger tips graced her inner thighs. Her back arched and she managed to hold onto his hair.

“Oliver!!” She writhed up on the bed as he then began to kiss his way up her body, his hands sliding up along her curves.

She greedily grabbed onto the muscles on his back when his hands started to fondle her breasts and tongue so eagerly teased her hardened nipples.

The need to feel him inside her escalated with each thumping heartbeat and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

His lips crashed hungrily against hers whilst his hands continued to play with her breasts.

With a groan he tore his lips away from hers, and looked at her as if to ask permission.

She hummed out a yes, and not a moment too soon she felt him slowly guide his length towards her opening. She closed her eyes to ready herself. A bit of fear and a whole lot of excitement ran through her body as she awaited him to enter her.

“Ah! Oliver!” She cried out when she felt him push her length into her, filling her completely.

The sweet ache she felt couldn't be compared to anything she had ever felt before. She felt as if she was drowning in ecstasy as he pushed deeper, faster into her, and as her hips began to move to match his thrusts. Their bodies rutted together, his lips on her neck, her breasts pressing against his bare chest, their hands exploring every inch of each other.

As their eyes met amidst their beautiful chaotic dance she felt as if time had frozen, and the rest of the world had disappeared.

There was just him and her.

She heard nothing but his labored breaths and his heart pounding above her. She felt nothing but him, his love, and the indescribable pleasure he was giving her with every movement, with every thrust, with every kiss.

Her nails dug into his back as her walls began to clench around him. She held his gaze, and held onto his arms tightly as he with another deep thrust took them both over the brink of passion.

“Ah!” She gasped, and his mouth covered hers as he collapsed on top of her.

Neither had the strength nor the will to move away from the other so soon. So they just stayed there for a moment, eyes closed and wrapped in each other.

She took that moment to let it all sink in, and process the fact that she and Oliver had just made love. Even in her wildest dreams she couldn't have ever imagined that this was how it would feel – so fulfilled, loved and her body buzzing with energy even though she was completely out of breath.

“Hey,” he whispered slowly lifting himself up.

A moan escaped her lips and when she felt him slowly pull himself out of her.

“Hey," She looked up and found him hovering above her, breaths still falling a little heavily, and holding his weight up from his arms.

“You look beautiful.”

“I probably look like a mess.” She was sweaty, her hair was all over her face and neck, her lips felt swollen and she was sore between her legs. 

“A very beautiful and a sexy mess.” Chuckling, he placed a feather light kiss on her lips, and gently rolled off of her.

“So we just... we just did … all of that.” She pursed her lips to stop herself from babbling any thing embarrassing.

“We indeed did.” He put an arm around her, and kissed the side of her head. 

She found herself smiling as she thought back to all those nights she had lain alone in her bed and thought what it would feel like to lie next to him in a very non-platonic situation such as this. However there were also times she had thought it would forever be nothing more than a fantasy. 

Closing her eyes she wished that she and Oliver would be able to stay together forever. She wished they would be able to share many happy moments together — preferably in this house Oliver built. Yet, in all honesty. what mattered to her the most that they were together, and living somewhere they would have the freedom to do anything they wanted to do — freedom to breathe, freedom to cry, freedom laugh, and dance if they felt like it without the fear of being caught.

 

* * *

 

  _She remembered that night five years ago when Oliver had asked her to dance with him under the stars. Not the real ones, but the stars made by the projector she made few months before._

_They had been just lying upon the library floor, staring at the stars when Oliver had suddenly gotten to his feet and extended his arm towards her in invitation, "Would you do me the honor of dancing with me, Miss Felicity?" She had giggled at first at his fake British accent, and hadn't thought he was being serious. They had been tasked to read books from 18th century, so she had thought that this was simply its influence and nothing else._

_"Felicity, it is not well mannered to keep a Lord waiting." He had prompted her to take his hand again._

_"Yes, my lord, I would love to." She had taken his hand, wondering what had gotten into him all of a sudden, "But I hope my lord does realize that there is no music to dance to, she had asked raising a brow at him._

_"I do not think Duke of ARGUS would appreciate us playing music at this hour."_

_" He would not." She had agreed, with a quick nod._

_"But we do not need music to dance to." He had spun her around from her hand, and drawn her towards him._

_"Yes.. We... we do not." She had stuttered, staring into his eyes. The proximity had made her knees go weak and head spin a little. They had danced together when they were younger, but never like this._

_"Felicity... I..." He had placed a hand on her waist and tugged her forward so that there was almost no space left between them.There was a sparkle in his eyes that made her  her heart thump excitedly, but she saw that sparkle disappear from his eyes in the same speed it arrived, leaving her to muse as to what she had seen, and what had made it vanish so soon._

_" _Felicity, I'm... sorry... I shouldn't.... this isn't —" S_ he had felt him step back a little. _

_"Sorry, for what? Oliver, what — " Before she could say more, the projector had abruptly turned off, leaving both of them in the dark._

“ _What the hell is going on in here?” Malcolm Merlyn's voice had echoed in the dark room, and she had felt her heart thud in fear._

“ _Felicity, stay close.”  Oliver had yanked her by her hand, and forced her to stand behind him._

 _The ceiling lights had flashed up on them with a click of a switch, and they had spotted Malcolm standing in the doorway with his guards standing behind him._ “ _What are you two doing in here?” Malcolm had walked towards them, instructing his guards to destroy the projection._

“ _NO!” She had felt the anger burning inside of Oliver as he stepped towards Malcolm._

_"Oliver, please don't." She had held his hand, and stopped him from moving any further._

“ _If you say no to me or disobey me ever again — ” Malcolm had stopped right in front of Oliver's face, and had glared at her over Oliver's shoulder. “You know what I'll do, right, Oliver?”_

_Oliver had quickly moved a little bit to his left covering her completely from Malcolm's sight. "I'm going to ki — "_

_Malcolm's wicked laugh had cut him off. ”You're so naive Oliver. You might have a very high IQ, but you still don't have what it takes to fight someone like me and you never will.” He had said, gesturing the guards to take them both to their rooms._

_Oliver had held onto her hand as long as he could as the guards dragged them both out of the library._

_She had cried the whole night, and fallen asleep wondering if they would ever have a chance to complete the dance they never even got the chance to begin._

* * *

 

“Hi,” Oliver wrapped his arm around Felicity's small frame, and pressed a kiss on to her head. Her hair was still a little wet from the shower they'd taken together after their wonderful rendezvous in bed few minutes ago, and he smirked remembering how cutely awkward she'd been when he had secretly stepped into to the shower completely naked. 

Even though at first he had been reluctant to show her his scars willingly, she'd made him feel so comfortable about it that he felt like an idiot for ever thinking that she would so harshly judge him for it. He should have known better. In fact he did know her better, but the pressure he felt to make their first time together perfect, and the idea that she deserved someone who hadn't committed as many sins, had made him feel slightly insecure in that moment.

“Hi,” She replied, lifting her head from his chest. Her wide spread grin made his heart fill with happiness as it always did. It still felt like a dream to lie in bed with Felicity in a very non-platonic setting as so, and to have her staring at him so lovingly while her fingers drew gentle patterns over his marred skin. 

He stole a kiss from her lips just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. 

He didn't know how long they would be able to stay like this, or how long they would be able to stay hiding in this house, but looking at the way she was smiling with her eyes closed — still reveling his kiss — he felt as if he was home.

“I wish we could stay like this forever,” Felicity echoed his thoughts as she lay her head back on his chest.

“Me too.” His hand drifted down her back and up again over her shirt. As much as he loved seeing her in his shirts — which he had very recently discovered — he wished she had worn nothing at all to bed just so he could feel her smooth skin against his skin.

“Oliver?” She turned to her side, and kept her heard propped up on her elbow. 

“Hmm?” He hummed, taking her free hand and placing a kiss on her delicate wrist, right over the beads that spelled 'forever and always' on her bracelet.

“Did you ever find out about your family like you wanted?”

“Felicity, I lied when I told you I was running away to find out about my family. Because I knew you'd have never let me take that risk if I had told you the truth... If I had told you I was escaping to find a way to give you the kind of life you deserved. ” He finally admitted.

Unlike Felicity, he didn't remember anything about his past life. Although he had always been curious about it, he hadn't really tried to dig into his past.

Even when he had accidentally come across some leads that could help him find out how he ended up in ARGUS, he had ignored them and concentrated mostly on his mission to destroy ARGUS and get Felicity out of there.

Felicity had always been his priority. 

Yet, earlier in the day, while Felicity and Alexa were sleeping Diggle had knocked on the door and given him a chance to find out about his past. When his friend had handed him an envelope and told him that everything he needed to know about his biological family was inside, it had felt like all too much to handle at the time. They had just escaped ARGUS. He had just gotten Felicity back and he was still struggling to get used to being father to a beautiful little girl who had no idea what kind of a man her father was. So he had quickly thrown it inside the bedside drawer and closed it shut thinking he would worry about whatever was inside the envelope later. However, Felicity's question had once again reminded him of it.

“You're right, Oliver. I wouldn't have let your risk your life for me like that.” 

If he could turn back time, and if he had to do it again, he would probably feel selfish enough to escape ARGUS with her. Hell, he definitely should! Especially, now that he knew what she had gone through at ARGUS.

Also, seeing that he had only manged to slow ARGUS down, and not completely burn the organization to the ground like he had wanted, he felt as if he had failed Felicity on some level. He felt as if he had wasted five years — 1827 days which he could have spent with Felicity as they fought ARGUS together.

Then again, would that mean Felicity would have had to do all the horrific things he had to do to survive?  Would that mean she too would have been involved with criminal organizations such as the Bratva, and the League of Assassins like he had? Would that mean they would've never gotten to know about Alexa? Would she have grown up in a cell like they had? Would she have grown up never knowing who her parents were just like him?

His eyes strayed to the bedside cupboard where that envelope lay.

He pondered as to what kind of people his parents could be. Would they be the kind of parents that thought of their children as nothing but a burden, or were they good, kind people that would like to meet their grand daughter?

He felt a sudden urge to know, to find out if they were the kind of people he would like her daughter to meet one day or the kind he'd have to protect her from.

Without mulling over it for another second, he reached over and took it out from the small drawer.

“What is it?” Felicity's inquisitive blue eyes stared at the envelope in his hand.

“Diggle gave it to me while you were sleeping. He said few days ago he came across some information about my family while he was doing some work for Bratva. ”The A4 size envelope felt heavier than it really was in his nervous hands.

“What does it say?”

“I don't know yet. Maybe you can read it for me?”

She seemed to have understood the reasons for his hesitation without him explaining it. She simply took the envelope from his hands and looked up at him before tearing it open. “Oliver, are you sure you want me to do this?”

“Yes.” He wasn't sure if he was ready to hear what was in it, but he was sure if Felicity was there with him he could handle anything.

“Ok then.” She quickly sat with her legs folded and he followed suit.

Her eyes ran over the paper a few times before finally looking up at him. “It says your name is Oliver Jonas Queen. Son of Billionaire Robert and Moira Queen.”

“What? Didn't Robert Queen and his son die in a plane crash?” They had learned about the famous Star City billionaires when they were in ARGUS, but he'd never thought he could be their son. As a matter of fact, it still felt outlandish to think that Oliver Jonas Queen's life didn't end in that plane, but instead he was taken away and was held a prisoner at ARGUS for almost twenty years.

“From what I remember they never found their son's body. Only Robert's body was found. It says here Oliver Jonas was just 3 years old when the plane crashed. “ Felicity replied as she quietly skimmed through the rest of the documents in her hands and gave him a photograph of Oliver Jonas Queen.

He had seen the picture before on a newspaper article about the lost heir. The dirty blonde haired boy with blue eyes did resemble him. The date and timing too seemed to add up, and thinking back to everything he knew about the crash and realizing how little effort was put into searching for the 3 year old heir, things did start to feel a bit fishy to him. However he wasn't sure the reason he was starting to see this whole situation in a new perspective was because the idea that he was Oliver Queen was now planted in his head or because it was actually true.

“He looks so much like you. I feel like we should have made this connection before. Then again who'd ever think that the world would have let a billionaire's son be trapped in a place like ARGUS for all those years. You'd think they'd have much more power and connections to make sure their son wasn't abducted by an organization like ARGUS.”

“We can't be sure until we do a DNA test.” He continued stare at the picture of young Oliver Jonas Queen. He tried to picture what kind of a man he would have become if he really  had grown up in the Queen mansion that he spotted in the background. 

“Did Diggle say anything about how he made the connection?”

“He said Malcolm was somehow involved, but he didn't say much, and I didn't ask.” He hadn't really been in the right state of mind to ask any questions after Diggle had placed that envelope in his hands.

“Ugh! Why am I not surprised to hear that Malcolm is behind this?” Felicity put the pages she'd already done reading aside, and handed him another photograph. “It's your Mother and sister, Thea Queen.”

Something tugged at his heart as he studied the picture of the two women who could probably be his mother and sister. He had seen Moira Queen on magazines before. She usually looked like a cold-hearted business woman, but in this one she looked like a caring woman that loved her daughter very dearly. And, Thea Queen, who he had seen on many tabloids the last couple of years too seemed much more real and down to earth in the picture he held in his hand.

“So... what are you thinking Oliver? What do you want to do?”

“I don't know, but if all of this is true, I do want to see them someday. But not right now.” He wasn't ready to face them yet. What would he say when he met them? How should he introduce himself? How was he going to explain his scars? Would they be willing to accept him for who he was, like Felicity had?

Most of all he wasn't sure if he wanted them to get involved in anything related to ARGUS. He didn't want that darkness to fall upon them too.

However, he hoped to introduce Alexa and Felicity to them someday, somehow, but not in the near future. _Maybe after they've gotten some stability in their own lives,_ he decided.

“When that day comes, I'll be here if you need me,” Felicity said, as she slipped the papers back into the envelope .

“Thank you Felicity,” he kissed her soft lips. He'd tasted them many times now, but he still hadn't had enough of her, and he was sure he never would.

“Oh no, Alexa!" Felicity suddenly froze at the sound of little Alexa's cries that came echoing through the hallway.

"I'm such a terrible mother. How could I just forget about her?!” She jumped off the bed, and ran looking for something better to wear. 

"Felicity, wait!" Oliver was about to go after her to calm her down when his phone buzzed on the nightstand.

It was a message from Diggle, _I know Felicity might be freaking out right now. Tell her not to worry. Alexa isn't hurt. She's crying because Sara took her doll._

"Felicity, stop! Read this!" He caught her by her hand and showed the message.

He could see her starting to relax as her eyes ran through the text. “But I'm still going to go and check on her. I promised Lyla I'd be there in fifteen minutes. She probably thinks I'm such a careless mother.” 

“ Felicity, You risked your life for a child you didn't even know existed until few days ago. I'm sure you'd do it again in a heartbeat if you have to. Lyla or anyone else is not going to think anything like that just because you're few minutes late.”

"Yeah... you're probably right," She said, but she didn't look convinced.

“Go get ready, we'll go and check on Alexa. I know you won't be happy until you see her.”  

She looked so young in that moment as he stared up at him smiling. She was in her early twenties and he realized she must have dreamed to live a carefree life if she ever got the chance to escape ARGUS. Yet after getting to know about Alexa she had been ready to take the challenge of taking care of her without much hesitation. The determination, the love and the compassion she showed not only to Alexa and him, but to anyone who needed it had always inspired him.

Felicity was convinced that his super power was his heart, but he was convinced his super power was her.

His guiding light was her.

It had always been Felicity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next is the epilogue... :)


	11. December 6th  2019

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, I did say I'll post the epilogue quickly, but I wanted to add more to the epilogue and let you guys know how certain things happened. So it took a lot more time than I thought for me to do it.  
> Hope you like the final chapter.
> 
> It's kind of a long chapter, hope it's not too boring.
> 
> (Also, I didn't use a beta)

**December 6th 2019**

**_Queen Mansion, Star City_ **

Felicity moved the curtain aside, and looked down through the window.

Their lives still might not be what most considered normal, but looking at Alexa playing with Sara and Lyla out there in the snow — running, falling, dancing and giggling — she realized she more than loved the normal they had.

"Sara! look!" Alexa laid down on the snow, and started to make a snow angel.

Even after four years Felicity still felt as fiercely protective of Alexa as she had felt the first day she held her. She wanted to tell Alexa to come back inside before it got too dark, but she didn't have the heart to end her fun so soon. In any case, Lyla was there. She knew her friend would make sure to bring their daughters inside if it wasn't safe there anymore.

Felicity almost called out to Alexa on instinct, when she saw her slip and fall in the snow as she tried to stand up. But, hearing Alexa laugh at herself for losing her balance made her calm down.

She had now learned to relax a little, but she could never completely stop worrying about Alexa's safety. She knew danger would always be lurking around them because now they were connected to one of the most well known business families in the country and because of the kind of life style they have chosen to lead. However, things weren't as bad as before. Oliver wasn't a part of the Russian Mafia anymore, the Queen mansion had better security, and most of all there were no eminent or direct threats to Alexa's life since ARGUS was no more. There were no more agents, no more experiments. Malcolm was gone, and last she heard, Laurel was caught by the FBI for her connection to yet another dodgy organization called the “ _H.I.V.E”._

She was happy it all had ended, but their victory and this freedom they were enjoying now hadn't come without any lost or collateral damage either. They had lost one of Oliver's most trusted Bratva brothers, two of them had been permanently injured, their home at Harmony Falls had almost burnt to dust, and she had almost lost Oliver during their final battle with Malcolm Merlyn.

A chill ran down her spine at the mere thought of it all. She hated thinking about that night, but she could never really forget anything. The battle wound Oliver still wore on his chest didn't let her forget anything. What made all of what they went through seemed worth it was the knowledge that Alexa was free, and the knowledge that they had stopped ARGUS from using geniuses like them to create machines and programs that could destroy the world.

"Sara, did you know frozen raindrops are called sleet?"

She heard Alexa ask as she finally got to her feet, dusting the snow off her coat.

“Sleet?” Sara waved her head 'no' before running towards the snowman they had built earlier. “Try and catch me, Alexa!”

The four year old took on the challenge set by her older friend, and ran after her, almost tumbling on the snow.

She maybe just a four year old, but she was more self aware, confident and smarter than an average child her age. Her IQ was already close to Oliver's. Felicity had no doubt that very soon her daughter would surpass not just her father's, but her own IQ score, and she couldn't be prouder. Oliver may say otherwise, but according to her Alexa was more like him than her. Alexa loved the outdoors, and was very active; always running, jumping and climbing trees. However, she did seem to babble constantly like her. Even though Oliver had assured her saying that it was her babbling that made her the most adorable, she wasn't quite sure it was a good trait or not.

Even now looking at how animatedly she was talking to Sara, she figured her daughter was babbling something. Most probably about the breeding history of the little puppy she seemed to have just found.

 _Poor Sara_ , Felicity thought as she fiddled with her glasses. Alexa followed Sara around like every little sister would follow her elder sister. Their interactions in away reminded her of Laurel and herself when they were young. Except, Sara genuinely adored and cared for Alexa like her own sister.

The sound of a horn honking in a distance, made Felicity's attention drift towards the main gate.

She grinned ear to ear spotting Oliver's limo.

She was supposed to go with him to Gotham City yesterday. They had planned to meet with the billionaire Bruce Wayne who was very interested in investing in a new venture of theirs, but Oliver had suggested that she should stay home because she hadn't been feeling well for the last few days. She had felt too sickly to argue, and he had looked so surprised when she hadn't opposed much to the idea of him going there alone. And, his surprise had soon turned into worry because it had been so unlike her to agree so easily when she knew her presence at the meeting could make a huge difference.

In the end, she had needed to convince him many times that she would be all right by herself, to get him to actually get ready to go.

“ _Call me if you need anything.” She remembered him say, grabbing her hand through the window of the limo._

_When she had rolled her eyes and said, she would — probably for the millionth time — he had kissed the back of her hand, making her once again melt at the touch of his lips as if it was first time he had kissed her._

Her eyes drifted to the spot on her hand where he had kissed last — right above the engagement ring he had given her four years ago.  Oliver had chosen the perfect ring for her. The ring didn't look too big or small or gaudy on her hand, but elegant and simple just the way she liked it.

She ran her finger over the diamond as she let her thoughts travel to that beautiful Sunday night he slipped it on her finger.

* * *

  _It had barely been a month since their escape, and she had just about fallen asleep when she had felt Oliver take her hand into his._

_"Oliver?" She had opened eyes and seen him kneeling beside the bed with a ring in his other hand._

_"I couldn't wait anymore. I got this ring yesterday, and I was going to plan this whole romantic evening when all of this ... this thing with ARGUS is over. But when I saw you sleeping here... I ...I just... I just had to — "_

_"Oliver? What are you — " She had mumbled sleepily, sitting up on the bed wondering if she had just heard what she thought she heard or if she had just dreamt it all._

_He had reached for her glasses lying on the night stand, and put it on her as though he hadn't wanted her to miss anything that was about to happen."_ _We don't know when this fight will end. It could end tomorrow,  in a month, in a year, a decade or we might forever be fighting this fight. I just realized I don't want to take that chance. I've already wasted so much time." He had tried to explain without even taking a breath in between words._

_"I thought I was the babbler in this relationship." With tears rolling down her cheeks, she had run a hand through his scruffy hair, messing it up completely._

_"Maybe babbling is contagious." He had joked before cupping the back of her head to tug her closer towards him._

_Her eyes had closed in anticipation as his lips hovered close to hers. “Hmm... Oliver.” She had moaned when he placed the most wonderful of kisses on her lips._

_"Felicity, I'm sorry this is not that romantic, and probably not how you imagined something like this to happen, but-"_

_She had cut him off with a finger on his lips."It's you, and that's what matters to me." It was the truth, and it had always been that way. She would have been fine even if the ring had been made of the same plastic her bracelet was made of. She only cared that it was him._

_He had smiled as if to say thank you, and then he had cleared his throat. "Felicity, you've been my guiding light, my best friend, my everything from the first day I met you. You've always meant the world... no, the universe to me. I love you more than those three words could ever mean, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."_

_A joyful little squeal had escaped her listening to him, and she had bit on her bottom lip to stop herself from crying._

_The hand which he held the ring had begun to tremble a little as he moved it closer to her ring finger. It had been so endearing to see that him look so nervous, despite the fact that it had been just her, just Felicity, someone he had known since he was eight._

_“Felicity, will you marry me?”_

_It had taken a second for her usually brilliant brain to register the words._

_“Felicity?”_

_His voice had shaken her awake from her daze. "Ye...yeah.. yes." She had muttered, her eyes once again tearing up with joy._

  _He had drawn her close, and kissed her tenderly before slipping the ring into her finger.  “I love you.” He had pulled her up to her feet, and taken her into his arms, wrapping her up in a warm, loving hug._

_“I love you too.” She had kissed him, pouring every bit of love she felt for him into the kiss._

_"Mama."_

_She hadn't thought the moment could be anymore perfect until Alexa's voice caught her ear._

_"Oliver, did she just -"_

_“I think she did. I think my daughter just upstaged my proposal.” With a huge proud smile on his face, he had carried her across the room to where Alexa's crib had been. “She's a sneaky little genius like her mother.” Oliver had quipped as he slowly put her down next to the crib. O_

_“Yes, she is!” Her daughters first word had been 'Mama', and she had been beyond happy._

_“Mama,” Alexa had giggled, when they both had peeped at her from above._

_“Aww!” She had quickly picked her up from the crib, and kissed her forehead. Tears had fogged her vision as she stared down at her precious little baby girl._

_“So how long until do you think she says, 'Dad'?” Oliver had laughed, snaking his arms around her waist from the back, pulling her against his chest._

_Even though it had merely been a joke that night, and he had been thrilled that Alexa's first word had been 'Mama', it had been very cute to see Oliver waiting for Alexa to say 'Dad' the next couple of days that followed. Thankfully, their genius daughter hadn't let him wait for more than three days. Oliver had been so happy to hear it that he had a huge smile plastered across his face the whole of that day._

_Even though by then Oliver had already been more comfortable around Alexa, she knew that hearing Alexa say that word had been what made him wholeheartedly believe he could actually be the father she deserved._

* * *

_"_ Daddy!" Alexa squealed as she ran towards the car, holding the puppy she found, securely in her small hands. "Папа, посмотри, что я нашел ?!" [Daddy, look what I found!] Her Russian pronunciation still wasn't perfect, but sounded cute when she talked. She had picked up the language very quickly while they were in Russia on holiday few months ago _—_ surprising and winning the love and attention of the locals.

Actually, this was the third language she had learned to speak by herself. They hadn't really pushed her too hard to learn anything, but they had made a library for her, and made sure to teach her anything and everything she showed interest in.

"Hi, princess! What have you been up to today?" Oliver got out of the car, and opened his arms inviting his daughter for a hug.

It was amazing to see the two of them together, to see how Oliver had completely embraced his role as a father. They shared a beautiful bond that Felicity hoped would last even as Alexa got older. 

“Where did you find this puppy?” Oliver kissed Alexa's cheeks midst her feign protests about his scruffy beard that was supposedly making her cheeks itch.

As Felicity watched them walk towards the house along with Sara and Lyla, she had a sneaking suspicion they were about to be proud owners of that puppy in Alexa's hands very soon.  Oliver couldn't deny her anything. He kept saying it was because Alexa was an excellent negotiator — which Felicity didn't completely disagree with  — but she knew that it wasn't the real reason. He loved her too much to say 'no' to her, and clever little Alexa knew it all too well. Thus, she had him wrapped around her finger.

"I was playing and... and he was behind that big tree."

Felicity's lips curved into a smile listening to Alexa tell Oliver the story of how she found the pup. 

 _Their lives truly had changed for the better within the last four years_ , she thought looking at the father and daughter duo. They had been able to truly enjoy life, after taking ARGUS down.

She had never imagined they would be able to achieve even this much of normalcy. To be honest, there had been moments that she had thought they might never be  completely free, and they may have to get used to the idea of living in the shadows forever. Even on those days when she had been full of hope, she hadn't thought that this was how things would turn out in the end for them. She hadn't thought that they would be more than just two unknown geniuses, or she would find the sister she had always wanted in Thea Queen, or would be — somewhat awkwardly — calling Moira Queen as 'mom'.

Letting out a content sigh, she looked around their bedroom.

Thea had decorated it specifically for Oliver and her. It was a beautiful room with a great view. It had a fire place, and had the most expensive decor imaginable. In fact every room in the mansion was pristine, and was very elegantly decorated.

Nonetheless, even with all the luxuries the place offered, and even though she had no hesitation in calling the Queen mansion her home, she couldn't say that she didn't miss her old home at Harmony Falls.

They hadn't gotten to live at their Harmony Falls home as much as she would have liked, as it had unfortunately burnt down during their last battle with ARGUS.

It may have been called a safe house in the beginning, but it had come to mean so much more than that. Especially after getting to know that Oliver had built it for them inspired by the birthday card she had given him years ago. Moreover, it had been in that house where they made love for the first time, where he asked her to marry him, where Alexa said her first words, and took her first steps. It had been in that house where the three of them had learned to become a family.

In short, it had been their first home.

So it had devastated her to see it go up in flames that night.

The incident forced them to move to a much smaller town house in Ivy Town until they got things back in order. Although they had thought it would be just a temporary situation, they had actually loved the simple life they had in that house as well. As a matter of fact they had continued to live there even after Oliver had revealed himself as Moira Queen's long lost son. Oliver and she hadn't really cared about his inheritance or the luxurious life they could have if they were to move to the Queen mansion like his mother and sister had wanted them to.

They probably wouldn't have even moved to Star City at all if Oliver's family company hadn't been facing bankruptcy and hadn't been in dire need of fresh leadership.

It had been only just two and a half years ago that Moira Queen managed to persuade them to move in with them. She had shown them how Oliver becoming the CEO of Queen Consolidated could help save the dying company and the city his great grandfather help build, and they had found it difficult to say no to his mother in her time of need. Certainly they hadn't wanted to turn their backs on a company that employed thousands and a city that needed help either. 

So they had moved to Star City with a bit of hesitancy, but with some hope that moving there could at least give them a chance to help people like they had always wanted. 

"Папа, ты знал, что эти собаки могут жить уже 10 лет? Это на 6 больше, чем сейчас.e" [Daddy, did you know these dogs can live for 14 years? That's 10 more than I am now.]

Felicity walked towards the door hearing their chatter.

"В самом деле? Я этого не знал." [Really? I didn't know that!] Felicity could almost imagine the amused smile on Oliver's face as he pretended to be oblivious.

"ты думаешь, маме понравится Дружок?" [Do you think mom will like Druzhok?]

Felicity shook her head laughing quietly. It seemed as if Alexa had already named the puppy, and that too a Russian name she couldn't even pronounce right. 

"Думаю, да."  [I think she will]

She put her ear to the door and continued to listen to the cute conversation between the father and the daughter. 

"Она всегда хотела собаку." [She has always wanted a dog.] 

 _And a cat not named 'Bob',_  Felicity mentally added to Oliver's sentence.

"Если она вам не нужна, вы должны делать свою магию." [But, if she doesn't, you have to do your magic. ] 

"Моя магия?" [My magic?] Oliver asked.

"Вам нужно будет сделать ее одним из ее любимых десертов ... шоколадного суфле. Тогда она не сможет сказать «нет»." [You have to make her one of her favorite-st desserts... chocolate souffle! Then she won't say, 'No'] Alexa sounded as if she was ordering him rather than telling him, and it made Felicity chuckle. 

"Ok. Это звучит как отличная идея. Давай посмотрим что происходит." [Ok, That sounds like a great idea. Let's see what happens.]" As soon as Oliver opened the door Alexa jumped out of his arms and showed Felicity the chocolate Labrador pup.

"Mama! Папа сказал, что смогу удержать его, если ты скажешь «да». Так я могу держать его мамой?[ Mama! Daddy said, I can keep him if you say, yes. So can I keep him mama? ] Felicity narrowed her eyes at the small pup and pretended to not like the idea much.

"Please! Please can I? Can I? It doesn't have a collar. See! He has no one to take care of him." Alexa pleaded and the puppy too looked at her with pleading eyes, wagging its tail a bit excitedly. 

"Вы обещаете позаботиться о нем?" [Do you promise to take care of him?] Felicity asked, casting a glance at Oliver who was just watching them with a stupid smirk on his face.

"I do mama! I promise! Я его накормлю. Вымойте его и сделайте все." [I'll feed him. Wash him and do everything!] Alexa jumped up and down as she waited for her to say 'yes'.

"Ok, then." Felicity bent down a little, and kissed Alexa's messy blonde hair.

"Thank you, Mama! I love you." Alexa quickly hugged her, and carefully put the pup on the floor. "I need to show Druzhok to Molly! I'm going to go and get her." she ran out of the room to bring her doll. 

"Be careful, honey!" Felicity yelled after her.

"Mama I know, I'm a genius." She popped her little head back in through the doorway to answer her, and then ran off again.

Oliver and she both burst into a laugh at their daughters antics. 

"She's so much like you." Oliver closed the gap between them, and placed his hands on her hips before placing a soft kiss on her lips.

"Nah, she's more like you. That's why you two have these secret little talks and conspire against me," she said smiling back at him.

"Conspire against you? When?" Oliver feigned innocence. He very well knew this wasn't the first time they had ganged up on her.

"I heard you two planning to make me souffle to manipulate me into saying 'yes'. So, don't act all innocent, Mr. Queen or should I call you 'Mayor Queen' now?" She pulled him closer by his tie. 

"I'm not the Mayor yet." He corrected her, kissing her just below her jaw line.

"But, you will be soon." The election was just two weeks away, and it was amazing how quickly the city had rallied behind Oliver's campaign. In the beginning though, even if Oliver had been the one to have decided to run for Mayor, he hadn't been so confident about his chances. However, now it seemed as if he would win by a land slide. Of course being associated with the Queen family and being the CEO of a multinational company had given him all the publicity he needed, but more than anything people seemed to have recognized his sincerity, and realized that he had great plans for the city. 

"I hope so." He kissed her lips again and pulled back. Creases formed on his forehead as his eyes narrowed on her. "And how have you been doing? You feel better than you did yesterday?" he asked spanning his hand over her stomach.

"Yeah, I feel much better." She was glad to see her reply erase the worried lines from his face.

He bent down a little, and pressed a kiss onto her stomach. It was something he had been doing every day from the moment they had found out she was pregnant, and her heart would just swell with happiness every time he would do that.  

_Last two and half years or so there had been so many things going on in their lives that they had put off the idea of having another child. However few months ago they both had decided that it was time. Things had been looking up for them and their lives were relatively stable._

_So when she had taken a pregnancy test, little less than a month ago, and seen those two lines on that stick, she had been so ecstatic she had practically run to Oliver's campaign office to tell him the good news. When she had babbled it out to him, showing him the pregnancy test, he had just kissed her, and spun her around in his arms before kissing her belly just as he had done now._

"So then the twins have finally decided to give you a break?" Oliver pushed her glasses back with his index finger, and kissed the tip of her nose.

"I think so." Truth be told, in the beginning the idea of giving birth to twins and taking care of them had been somewhat nerve wrecking. Even though she was already a mother, this was the first time she would actually be carrying, and will be giving birth to not one, but two babies. When she had told Oliver of her fears he had assured her saying that he would be there every step of the way, and that his family too would help her with the process. His words had calmed her and given her the confidence she needed as they always had.

"Liam, Lucas, don't trouble your mother again, ok?" Oliver playfully warned the twins, and she laughed thinking about how Alexa had said something very similar to her two little siblings yesterday. Honestly, they hadn't yet found out the gender of the babies, but Alexa had decided they were going to be two baby boys. Although they had told her it might not be the case, she hadn't cared and gone about naming them Liam and Lucas. So they had decided to just go along with it for the time being.

_They hadn't told the happy news to the rest of the family yet. However, few days ago they had decided to tell Alexa about it. As smart and understanding as she was for her age, she was still a four year old. They didn't want her to think that the arrival of the babies would change things too much or make them love her any less. So They hadn't wanted her to find it out from anyone else or — being the smart cookie that she was  — for her to figure it out all on her own, and worry herself over it somehow without telling anyone._

_So when they had told her, she had taken the news very well as they had hoped. She had even promised to keep it a secret until they revealed it to everyone else tonight at dinner. All she had wanted to know in return had been if this would cause pain to her mother in someway and if her brothers would love her as much as she would love them._

Thinking about Alexa's innocent questions brought tears to Felicity's eyes yet again, just as they had done the day Alexa had asked those questions.

"What are you doing there little fella?" She heard Oliver say.

Quickly wiping away the tears that were just about to fall, she looked down. Druzhok was running around Oliver's feet playing with the lace on his shoe.

Oliver took the pup into his arms and booped his tiny nose.

"So how did your meeting with Bruce go?" She patted the pup's head, and it jumped into her arms.

"It went really well. He agreed to help us, and he wanted some help from us too. But we can talk about it later." Before Felicity could ask any details about the meeting, Oliver caught her by her elbow, and guided her towards the bed. "I have a gift for you. I've been waiting the whole day to give it to you."

"Another one?" She sat on the bed, trying to guess what his gift could be. Oliver had already given her seven gifts. She knew traditionally she was suppose to get eight gifts for Hanukkah, but she had been too worried about Oliver's meeting with Bruce that she had completely forgotten about the eighth gift. In her defense this was the first time she and Oliver had decided to actually celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas together, and she was still getting used to all the customs.

It had been Oliver's idea to celebrate both holidays this time around. Even though they had gotten to know about her parents' religion few years before, it was only now she had come to truly embrace that part of herself. Not only had it made her feel closer to her mother, it had also given her a new sense of hope, happiness and peace.

And, her religion wasn't the only thing she had discovered about her parents or her past. She had learned that her full name was Felicity Megan Smoak, and that her mother Donna Smoak had apparently worked as a cocktail waitress in Vegas before she died at the age of twenty five. However, they hadn't yet manage to get much information on the whereabouts of her father Noah Smoak or what he was doing or did for a living. 

"This is the last one." Oliver reached into his jacket and took his phone out. "I wanted to take you there, but I know you haven't been feeling well. So I thought I'll just show you a picture of it, " he said, browsing through the images on his phone, until his finger stopped on a picture of some kind of a building. 

She placed the little lab back on the floor, and took the phone into her hand to take a better look at the picture. “It's our old home at Harmony Falls.” She recognized it the moment she had taken the phone. "But it looks different." The colors on the walls seemed brighter than she remembered. "Oliver! Did you restore it?" This was his eighth Hanukkah gift, she realized. He had restored their beloved first home - their dream - home for her. It was overwhelming to see it restored to its original glory again. "How.. when?" Tears pricked in her eyes as she continued to stare at the picture.

"It took me a few months. But the hardest part was to restore it without my genius wife finding out, but I did." He chuckled.

"I love it." She kissed his cheek like she always did when he gave her a gift, and he blushed just like he usually did whenever she would kiss his cheek.

"I know we have kind of started a new life here, but I still wanted to restore it. Maybe we can go there on holidays or on the weekends?" 

"I'd really like that." As much as she would have loved to just pack up, and move back into their old home, their lives were now in Star City. They couldn't leave Thea and Moira like that. And, Oliver was the CEO of his family company, and was also running for mayor. Then about a month ago they both had taken upon the task of building a new hospital in Glades in memory of their beloved mentor Walter Steel. She had also started a mentorship program to help gifted young girls, and a couple of years ago, she had launched her own company called Smoak-Tech. Her company specialized in developing environmentally friendly tech and affordable bio implants that could change peoples lives for the better.

So they couldn't leave Star City now, but she loved the idea of spending at least their holidays or weekends there. And, maybe one day, hopefully, they could move there permanently once they retire.

"Druzhok, Did you miss me?" Alexa came running back into the room with Molly. 

The pup looked up with one of Alexa's soft toys in its mouth. She had left it in their room last night, when she had come to sleep with her saying, she didn't want her mother to feel lonely because her dad wasn't there. She figured it had something to do with Alexa overhearing her tell Oliver about feeling a bit queasy. Either way she had welcomed her baby girl's kind gesture with open arms.

"Druzhok! No! come here."

He dropped the toy next to Oliver's feet, and quickly ran to Alexa. He seemed to have already taken a liking to his new name and his new friend very quickly.

"See Mama, I think he missed me." 

"Hmm...it seems so." Felicity replied as she watched Oliver move the toy aside to make sure no one stepped on it.

"I was looking for Molly in my room, and I forgot Molly was in the playroom." Alexa explained to the little pup as she sat on the floor to introduce Molly to him.  The excited pup latched onto one of Molly's hands with its tiny teeth, and Alexa looked at him warningly. "Druzhok, NO! Она наш друг, хорошо?[ NO! She's our friend, OK?" ]The pup backed away hiding its tail between its legs.

 "Mama!" Alexa suddenly looked up at her as if she remembered something important. "Aunt Thea said to tell you to come down for dinner."

"I'll go get ready then." Oliver pressed a kiss onto her head, before walking over to the closet behind them. "And Felicity?" 

"Hmm?" She looked over her shoulder.

"You look really beautiful in that dress." His eyes twinkled, and his lips curled up as he watched her blush. 

“Thanks.” She smiled back shyly. She had picked the dress especially for him, as it was his favorite green. He loved her in red the most, but recently she had noticed that there was a different kind of a gleam in his eyes whenever she would wear green — specifically this dark leafy green she was wearing, which she liked to call _his_ green. So time to time she would wear something or the other in _his green_ just to see that look in his eyes. 

"I'll be back soon." Giving her a wink he stepped into the en-suite to get ready.

Still blushing and still smiling she walked over to her dresser in order to retouch her make up.

She looked at herself in the mirror. She was almost at end of her first trimester, and there was a hint of a baby bump, but her breasts have certainly gotten a little bigger as a result. Thankfully, her dress accentuated only what needed to be accentuated.

Satisfied with how the dress looked on her, she fished out her favorite red lipstick she had used earlier.

As she carefully painted another light coat of it over her lips, her eyes caught the sight of her bracelet on her wrist. The pink and purple plastic beads rarely matched any business suits or evening gowns she had to wear as Felicity Meghan Smoak-Queen, the famous entrepreneur, the business woman, the tech inventor and the wife of billionaire and mayoral candidate Oliver Queen. Even the letters on its beads had almost faded away. However, she just couldn't imagine it not being on her wrist ever. Even if Oliver had given her a wedding ring with the words 'Forever and Always' engraved into it, and told her she didn't  have to wear the bracelet every day anymore if she didn't want to, she hadn't had the heart to take it off. It was as precious to her as her wedding band or her engagement ring. 

She pushed her glasses up, and turned the bracelet around. The arrow charm dangling on it shined catching the light in the room. Oliver had said, the charm meant protection, but now the charm had come to represent a much larger part of their life. And she couldn't help but feel that it was fate that Oliver had chosen that specific charm for her.

She twirled the charm between her fingers, thinking about everything they had gone through together.

Things could have easily gone wrong, and their 'forever', their story, could have ended four years ago. All of what she had now may not have even existed, if they hadn't kept fighting for their freedom, fighting for their daughter's future and fighting to take down ARGUS.

She thought back to that fateful Satruday night three and a half years ago that changed their whole lives.

* * *

_Four months had gone by since their engagement. Even by then not only had they managed to expose almost all ARGUS leaders  — with the help of many friends Oliver had made over the years—  she had also managed to hack into most of ARGUS bank accounts, and transfer their money to charities all around the world._ _Most of their branches had already closed down, and the ones left had been on the verge of closing down due to lack of proper leadership and funding._   _ARGUS had been as good as over. However, with the headquarters still standing strong, and with Malcolm Merlyn now at its helm — at the absence of former ARGUS leaders — they hadn't been able to relax or celebrate just yet._

_So that had been why this particular Saturday night had been so important to them. They had planned to blow up the headquarters using a forgotten sewage system that ran underneath the land it was build on._

_She hadn't known about the existence of the 19th century sewer system until few days before, when Oliver and Diggle had stolen some old land records from the national archives, hoping to find a vulnerability they may have missed. She doubted ARGUS had any clue of it either since she had never heard of them mention of it during those many occasions she had  updated their security system. Nonetheless, that hadn't meant that ARGUS wouldn't stumble up on this information just as they had. ARGUS still had a very capable genius working for them after all. Thus they had decided to use this vulnerability to their advantage as soon as possible._

_She still remembered how restless Oliver had been that night, pacing about the basement in frustration like a caged lion. "Update me Damyan!" He had barked over the comms every other minute._

  _Damyan had been in charge of the group of ten men they had sent to set up the bombs, while she and Oliver had taken the responsibility of monitoring everything from the basement of their Harmony Falls home. Even though Oliver had wanted to go there himself to make sure everything was done right, he also hadn't wanted to leave Alexa and her in Harmony Falls. He hadn't doubted her ability to protect Alexa or herself, but he had doubted his ability to concentrate on another mission while Alexa and she were miles away from him. If Diggle and Lyla had been there, and hadn't been in China on an urgent Bratva assignment —which he just couldn't afford to say 'no' to — Oliver probably would have considered it. Since it hadn't been the case, he had no other option than to stay back and monitor the progress of the mission from afar._

_"I'll be activating the bombs from here once all the bombs are set." Oliver had let both Damyan and her know that he would take upon the duty of pressing the big red button  on her monitor that would set off the bombs._

_His reasons had been very clear to her. He hadn't wanted her to have the blood of _—_ probably dozens of _—_  ARGUS agents on her hands. But she couldn't just sit there and let him do it. He had already been drowning in guilt. She hadn't wanted him to drown even further._

_"But, Oliver -"_

_"Let me know when it's done, Damyan." He hadn't looked at her. He had simply turned his face away. It was as if he thought she would be able to somehow sway him to let her activate the bombs, if he were to even glance at her._

_"_ I will Kapitan _." Damayn had replied._

  _Unfortunately_ ,  _things hadn't gone exactly as they had planned. Shortly after their conversation, they had come to know that Pavel —  a Bratva brother who they had sent on the mission with Damyan — had betrayed them. Not only had Pavel warned ARGUS about the bombs he had also informed them of the whereabouts of their safe house._

_So as Damyan and the rest of the Bratva brothers fought for their lives on one end, both Oliver and she had needed to protect their daughter from Malcolm Merlyn and the small army of men that had broken into their home._

_"Laurel... she's after us!" Those had been the last words Damyan had said, right before their ears had filled with the sounds of bullets being fired._

_"Oliver, we need to get out of here." As soon as she had realized their home had been infiltrated, she had run and taken Alexa out of her crib that they had set up in the corner of the basement._

_Her almost one year old baby girl had begun to cry startled by the sound of the large steel basement door being blown up._

_"It will be alright hun," she had said, kissing her forehead to calm her down._

“ _Don't the three of you make such a cute little family?” Malcolm Merlyn and his minions had emerged through the smoke that still covered the entrance to the basement_

“ _I'm not going to let you take them!” Oliver had taken her hand and pushed her behind him, just as he had done long time ago to protect her from Malcolm Merlyn._

“ _Walter said something very similar right before I killed him.” Merlyn's laughter had echoed as he stepped closer to them, his gun pointed in their direction._

_She hadn't been surprised to hear that Merlyn had been behind Walter's death. Future of ARGUS depended on project 'Tempest', and he had probably killed Walter just so he could be in charge of the project._

“ _If you don't co-operate, you two might join him too.” Merlyn had warned._

“ _You won't! you can't kill either one of us! You need us!” She had always feared of ARGUS one day finding them, but she had always taken comfort in the fact they would never kill them as they had been too important to them._

_"Well, that was back when I wasn't the one in charge of the whole organization. And anyway all I need now is your daughter." Merlyn had walked towards them, his men following him closely behind._

“ _I'm not going to let you even touch either one of them! Felicity, take cover!” Oliver had charged forward not thinking about the bullets that had come raining down on him._

 _Shielding_ _Alexa with her body, she had hidden behind one of the mainframe computers near by._

_She had watched Oliver fight off Merlyn's minions with ease, but it hadn't been easy for him to defeat Merlyn himself._

_"Ugh!" WIth a grunt Oliver had fallen to the ground, unable to withstand one of Merlyn's punches to the gut._

_"Say good bye, Oliver." Merlyn had taken his gun out and pointed it at Oliver's head._

_"No!" She had grabbed a hard-disk that had been lying upon a table close by and had thrown it at Merlyn._

_Merlyn had turned to her, rubbing the spot on his head where the hard-disk had hit him. "You're going to pay for that, Felicity."_ _He had stepped her way, with his gun directed at her, his finger ready to pull the trigger._

 _"_  No _!" Oliver had come running towards him, drawing out one of the swords that been hanging on the wall ._

  _"Try and stop me!" Malcolm had turned back around, firing the gun at him._

_"Oliver!" She had screamed as Oliver took a bullet to his chest._

_"I'm not going to let you hurt them!"Oliver had lunged forward and cut off Merlyn's hand that held the gun._

_Oliver had dropped the blood stained sword, while he watched Malcolm tumble and fall on top of the keyboard, accidentally setting off the bombs they had set up at ARGUS._

_"Oliver, are you ok?" She had run to Oliver, holding Alexa closely against her._

_"I'll be fine. Are you both all right?" With on hand on the bullet wound on his chest, he had grabbed a hold of her hand with the other._

_“We are ok. But we need to get out of here!”  she had said, directing his attention to the burning main frame computers in the far end of the room. Fire had spread too quickly and they had no other choice but to crawl out of the window to get away from it all._

_The whole place had gone up in flames just a few minutes after they had gotten out of the house. Most of the Bratva men that had been at the safe house that night had managed to escape  with minor injuries. However, those who had been out in the field setting up the bombs hadn't been so lucky. It had been Nikolai who had contacted them and updated them on their status. He had been the one to give them the sad news that Damyan had sacrificed his life for his team, for his Kapitan, for all of them._

* * *

 

"Mama, can you do my hair? Druzhok, pulled my bow." Alexa was tugging on Felicity's dress to get her attention, when Oliver stepped out of the bathroom all set to go down stairs for dinner. 

"Oh, let me see." Felicity turned around, and began to fix Alexa's pig tail that had come undone."Druzhok! did you do this?" She glanced at the little labrador running around them.

He immediately stopped and sat down whimpering as if to say sorry.

The innocent interaction Oliver saw between, his beautiful and genius wife, his cute little daughter and the newest little member of their family made him quietly lean back against the wall and smile.

He may have a really wonderful bond with Alexa, and she may have been so proud to call herself "daddy's little princess", but her mother meant the world to her. And she knew Felicity felt the same about her too. Alexa loved her so much so that she would get so worried even when Felicity were to say she had a small headache. It was so adorable to see her run around, trying to make sure Felicity had all the care she needed. Most probably because that was how Felicity was when Alexa got sick, and it always made him so proud and happy to know that Alexa had the same caring and giving heart as her mother.

There were certainly many things Alexa had taken after him, but Alexa emulated her mother, more than Felicity probably realized. He could already see Alexa growing up to become a strong, successful woman like Felicity. 

"I think he's sorry." Alexa pointed out quickly, most probably worried Felicity would tell her that she need to take care of the dog better.

“I think he is." Felicity turned her attention back to Alexa's hair. Their daughter had the same messy blonde hair that she had as a child, and he had no doubt Felicity tied it up the way her mother used to tie hers.

It was when Durzhok came darting towards him that the mother and the daughter even noticed he was there.

“What are you doing there Mr.Queen?” Felicity asked crossing her arms playfully.

“Just enjoying the view?"

He sometimes couldn't believe that this was his life now. Every day he was thankful that Felicity being the curious genius she was, she had snooped around in ARGUS archives, and had accidentally come across Alexa's file. If Felicity hadn't seen that file, they probably would have never gotten to know they had a daughter, and she probably would have had the same miserable fate as them. They could have even easily lost Alexa in their battle to bring ARGUS down.

“Daddy! Can you give me a piggy back ride?” Alexa being the daddy's little girl she was, she came running and gave him big a hug.

“What do I get in return?” He crouched down to speak to her.

“A big kiss?” She placed a kiss on his cheek.

“Deal.” He picked her up and put her on his back.

“I love you, daddy! I love you 220 out of 10.” She squealed kicking her legs in joy.

“Love you too, princess. 220 out of 10.” It was their new thing. He couldn't really remember how it started. He just remembered that they both had been doing this for over a month now.

“What does that even mean?” Felicity pretended to be annoyed as she picked Druzhok up.

“You have the highest IQ in this room. Shouldn't you be able to figure it out yourself?”

Felicity rolled her eyes at him. “Ok...ok... I'll figure it out my self. Let's just get going before your mom sends someone up here looking for us.” She put her arm through his and dragged him out of the room.

After handing Druzhok over to their housekeeper, Raisa and telling her to prepare something for the pup to sleep in, the three of them went down to the dining room.

Alexa hadn't been happy with the decision to part ways with the pup even for a few minutes, but after explaining things to her she had — not so happily — agreed.

Everyone had already gathered in the dining room when they finally got there. His mother sat at the head of the table, Thea right next to her on her right, and John and Lyla sat opposite her.

His mother and sister had a fair idea of what had happened him and Felicity in ARGUS, but they didn't know all the details. They didn't know about how Alexa really came into their lives, or what kind of experiments they had to face or what kind of crimes or sins he had needed to commit to survive. However, he knew they were aware that his and Felicity's lives hadn't exactly been what they would call normal, and they were all right with it.

“Sara!” Alexa slid down from his back and ran to join her friend sitting at the kids' table on the right side corner of the room.

“Aren't you going to give grandma a kiss?” Alexa turned back around and kissed her grand mother's cheek.

"Love you, grandma." With that Alexa had run off to where Sara was. She hadn't even taken a breath before she started telling her friend about how easily Felicity had agreed to let her keep Durzhok.

“Felicity, you're looking awesome, tonight.” Thea waved her hand inviting Felicity to sit beside her.

He loved the relationship Felicity and Thea shared.

Although Felicity was two years younger than Thea, she looked up to Felicity, and sought her advice on most things.

Like most rich kids with a trust fund to burn, Thea had been a spoiled brat her whole life. It was Felicity that helped Thea understand she could do more with her life than just spending her money on material things. She had even helped Thea open her own restaurant after realizing that was where her passion lied. Not only that, Thea had even volunteered to help Felicity with the mentorship program she started.

“Thank you. You look gorgeous too.” Felicity waved back as he guided her to her seat.

_He remembered the first day he met his family. He had been particularly anxious about meeting his mother and sister for the first time, and to find out how they would react to him. Even though Felicity stood beside him and supported him, he knew she too was as nervous —perhaps more nervous than him — to meet her mother-in-law “The Moira Queen”, who they had heard to be a very cold, ruthless business woman. Felicity never said it out loud, but he knew she was afraid that CEO of Queen Consolidated Moira Queen and heiress Thea Queen would look down up on her for having no lineage, and no trust fund._

_He could still remember how they had stood nervously at the front doors of the mansion now they call home. He had known that without a DNA test his mother would never accept him as her son, but he had hoped to at least see some kind of recognition in her eyes. And, he had._ _He had seen the love and the care of a mother he had always wanted to see in Moira Queen's eyes when she had seen him for the first time._

_Thea had been somewhat hesitant to accept him as well, but he had seen her becoming more willing to accept it the more she had listened to Felicity explain their story, and listened to Alexa babble about how she didn't have a crown because she was only her father's little princess and not a real princess._

_He was pretty sure Alexa had stolen his mother's and sister's hearts that very first day, and it hadn't taken that long for Felicity to win them over either._

So as he now looked around at all the faces of his loved ones seated at the dining table he couldn't truly describe the happiness he felt. 

He wished Damyan had been there too. He could and would never forget him. He was forever thankful for what Damyan did and he had taken it upon himself to make sure his family in Russia always had a roof above their heads and food on their table. He wished he could do more, but his simple farming family hadn't wanted much help, and refused most things he had offered. They were in away seemed proud that Damyan had died trying to help a family, and bring down a corrupted organization like ARGUS, rather than while he was serving the Bratva.

“How is your work, Felicity?” Diggle asked as he served himself some food.

These days Diggle was as happy and relaxed as the rest of his family gathered around the table.  Neither he nor his wife worked for the Bratva anymore, and they both ran their own security firm now. However, the main reason for him looking so content probably had to do with the fact that he had been able to find the man responsible for his brother's death, and put him behind bars. 

“It's going great. I think we'll be able to put out another affordable cyber-ware on the market within the next few months.” Felicity explained enthusiastically, poking at the mashed potato on her plate with a fork. She hadn't had an appetite the last few days, and he could already see his sister starting notice that something was going on with Felicity.

“Felicity, I think we should tell them.“ He caught her hand and she turned to him looking a little shy.

“Hmm... yeah..Ok.”

“Uhm, Felicity and I have a little announcement to make.” 

Everyone turned their attention to them, and he could almost feel Felicity's anxious energy through her hand.

“Uhm.. so a … we.. I'm pregnant.” She looked at him and smiled nervously.

“Oh my God! I'm going to be an Aunt again!” Thea got to her feet in a flash and gave Felicity a tight hug. The joy he felt as everyone congratulated them both was indescribable. He had everything he ever wanted in that dining room that moment, and he felt as if he was the luckiest man on Earth. And, he felt as if he wouldn't have none of this if Felicity hadn't walked into that glass prison at ARGUS all those years ago.

She truly made his life better, help him be the best version of himself.

He was proud to call her his wife, and felt honored to call himself her husband.

* * *

_As he stood their admiring her, his mind traveled to that moment that they officially became husband and wife._

_They had chosen to get married at the gardens of the oldest manor in Harmony Falls, and it had been beautifully decorated with white and pink orchids that Felicity loved._

_He had been so eager to get married_ _right after their engagement, but circumstances had forced them to wait. And, looking back he was glad it had. He wasn't sure he would have been able to let Felicity have the wedding she deserved if they had gotten married in a haste, in the middle of their war with ARGUS._

_He remembered looking into the crowd seated in front of the altar, and feeling so overwhelmed by the fact that his mother and sister were there despite the fact that they hadn't yet become the close knit family they were today. It had only been a week since they had done the DNA test, and even though he had always secretly hoped them to be present at his wedding, he hadn't been sure if it would ever happen. For all he knew the DNA results could have proven that he wasn't the lost heir. But, it hadn't._

_They had looked happy for him as if he had always been a part of their family._

_“You nervous man?” His bestman, Diggle had asked._

_“No, I'm just incredibly happy.” He had replied, looking over the heads of friends and family seated in front of the altar, hoping to see Felicity come walking down the aisle._

_“I'm glad to hear that, Oliver. You deserve to be happy. You both do.” Diggle had given him slight pat on the back._

_“Thank you.” he had turned to Diggle._

_Few years ago, he hadn't been so sure he deserved anything good, but little by little, with a lot of help from Felicity he had been able to realize that his soul was not as dark as he had thought._

_“She's here.” Diggle had directed his eyes towards the aisle again._

_His heart had thud hard and fast against his chest as he cast his eyes on Felicity. She had looked breathtaking as she nervously stood in the other end of the aisle, wearing the most angelic white dress, and holding her bouquet In front of her._

_He was sure he had fallen more in love with her that day, at that moment, when their eyes had met across the aisle._

_"Sara, where are you, hun? It's time." At Felicity's little whispered instruction, Sara had appeared from behind her, holding Alexa's hand. The light pink dress Alexa wore and the flower wreath on her head made her seem like a little fairy. Honestly, she had brought so much joy into their lives that if anyone were to tell him that his daughter truly was a little fairy that had come into their lives to spread magic and love, he would believe it in a heartbeat._

_His little princess and Diggle's adorable daughter, had slowly walked forward, tossing rose pedals from the little baskets in their hands, and Felicity_ _had followed them, stepping towards him to the enchanting sounds of the violins and the harp as they played the bridal chorus._

_He hadn't been able to stop smiling. He had half wanted to run to her and kiss her, and half wanted to just stand there and admire how perfect she looked._

_"Felicity..." His heart had stopped the moment she had at last come to stand in front of him._

_“Hi!” She had greeted him with the sweetest of smiles, as her bride's maid Lyla quickly adjusted her long veil._

_“You look so beautiful.” he had smiled back, taking her hand, and his heart had soared at the sight of the bracelet on her wrist. She had still worn it in spite of the fact it didn't go with the elegant white dress or the diamonds she wore._

_“You are too. Not beautiful. Not that you're not beautiful. You are...I mean you look handsome. ”_

_Her babbles had made him smile even wider._

_“Shall we begin then?” The priest had then commenced the ceremony. They had made sure that traditions from both his and her religions were followed as much as possible. Because of the way they had grown up, neither of them had been that used to or connected with their respective religions back then, yet Felicity had especially wanted it to be that way as a means of remembering and respecting her mother, and his family._

_“You may exchange your vows now. Felicity?” The priest had turned to Felicity inviting her to say her vows first._

_“Oliver... “ She had looked up at him, biting her bottom lip. “I still remember the first day I met you. You extended your hand in friendship to me that very first day, and to this day you've never let it go. You make me feel loved and wanted when I feel alone and lost. You give me strength when I have no hope. You make me believe in myself when I doubt myself. You make me feel safe when I'm scared. You have a beautiful heart and a soul Oliver. And you are a wonderful father. I trust you completely, and I trust you to be there for me and our daughter. And, today I'm so happy, and so proud to stand her in front of you and say that with all my heart I take you, Oliver, my best friend, my confidant, my first love, my true love, as my husband._ _I promise to walk along side you through anything life throws at us, and go anywhere this journey may take us. I promise to dream with you, and laugh with you forever. I promise to be there for you, and be honest with you always. Oliver, I have loved you forever, and I promise to love you always. “_

 _Her words had brought tears to his eyes, and he had barely managed to remember the vows he had written down._ _“The first day I saw you, I thought you were an angel. And the eight year old me wasn't wrong. You are. You've brought so much love, happiness, warmth and laughter into my life. Even Just knowing that I can always count on you, and just the sound of your voice was all I needed and will ever need to get through hardest of times. Just a glimpse of your smile makes the darkest of days brighter. I only need to gaze into your eyes to know that you trust me, that you believe in me and to know that I'm loved. I've never met someone, so compassionate, so strong, intelligent, and so beautiful as you. And I'm so I'm honored, and happy that I get to call you my best friend, the love of my life, the mother of our beautiful daughter, and very soon my wife. I promise to always be faithful, to be honest, to support you, to stand by you, and to love you .. Forever and Always.”_

_He remembered seeing tears of joy in her eyes. He remembered seeing a her lips turn to a smile as they exchanged their rings, and their I do's. He remembered their first dance, and how happy they both were as they swayed to that same song that they had tried to dance to all those years ago at ARGUS._

_It had almost felt like a dream, and he felt so lucky that it hadn't been._

_He felt so lucky that Felicity was his wife._

 

* * *

 "So you really think this Green Arrow is good for Star City?" Thea's question made him jolt back to reality. He had been so lost in his thoughts he didn't even know how the conversation had gotten there, but like always the topic made him uncomfortable. Not because he was oppose to the Green Arrow's vigilante ways,— how he captured criminals, shooting arrows, donning a green hood and a mask,—  but because he _was_ the Green Arrow.

Felicity and he had been determined to save the city as they had promised his mother. But they had soon realized to have any hope of saving the city they needed to find a way to stop the criminals that seemed to be running the city, using its leaders as if they were mere puppets. And that had driven him to find his true calling. 

"He's an outlaw, and should be arrested if you ask me."  His mother replied, taking sip from her wine glass.

Neither his mother nor sister new of his secret life, and he wasn't planning on telling them any time soon. He didn't know how they would take the news, and most importantly he was afraid that it would some how put them in harms way. They were well aware of what dangers that may come with him being a masked vigilante, but they believed in the cause, and they were anyways already too involved in it all to stop now.

"The crime rate has dropped by almost 20% after he started patrolling the city."  Felicity grabbed his hand under the table and gave him a reassuring smile before, turning to his mother. "Glades is safer because of him. Star City is safer. People can actually be out at night without being afraid of being robbed or killed. I think he's a hero." 

He was touched listening to Felicity. She always stood up for him. She knew how much it hurt him whenever someone — especially someone he loved — talked about Green Arrow like he was nothing but a criminal.

Truth be told he wouldn't have been able to do none of what he did, if he didn't have Felicity by his side. She made everything so easy. She helped him believe in himself, believe that he could be a father, a CEO, a Mayor and a hero at the same time. 

 "Do you think he has a team?" a very curious Thea asked, and he could feel Felicity's hand turn cold at the question.

"He probably has. He probably has a great team. I don't think anyone can do any of it alone." He winked at Felicity and held her hand tighter. If it wasn't for Felicity's voice guiding him over the com-links, whenever he patrolled the city, he wouldn't have been so successful as the Green Arrow. Even though the world didn't know it, he knew his wife, his Felicity —  or Overwatch as he usually referred to her when he was on patrol — was a hero on her own right. 

He may have been the face of the whole operation, but he had her help. He had his brother, Diggle's help. He too would put on a disguise of his own and patrol the city along with him.

Felicity was still working on a code name for Diggle, but from the names she had suggested he seem to like "Spartan" the most. 

"But, what he or they are doing is against the law. There are many ways to help keep the city safe, and I don't think this is the right path. I mean look at how both of you are helping the city. You two don't need to put on a mask at night to go help people." His mother downed the last bit of her wine, and placed the glass on the table.

A smile threatened to creep across his lips at the irony of what she just said, and he wasn't surprised to see both Diggle and Felicity too fighting back a smile.

 Funny as it was, his mother was right about one thing. They were already doing a lot for the betterment of the city as Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak, but that wasn't enough at all. That was why they had decided to go down this very risky path, and that was why he had in fact gone to Gotham City to meet Bruce Wayne. The infamous playboy billionaire who also moonlighted as a masked vigilante, had wanted to discuss how they could help each other save their respective cities. 

"No investors would have been willing to fund our projects to rebuild the city, if the crime rate hadn't gone down." Felicity explained simply, and his mother seemed to have at least accepted that what Green Arrow was doing — even though may not be legal —  was inadvertently helping the growth of the city.

"Felicity," He whispered leaning towards her.

"Yeah?" She whispered back.

He stole a quick kiss from her lips and watched her blush.

"Ugh, get a room you two." He heard Thea cry, but he just ignored her. 

"What was that for?" Felicity asked.

"Because I love you." She gave him the sweetest of smiles and leaned towards him to give him a kiss. Unfortunately, the arrival of the dessert distracted her, and he missed his chance to kiss her again.

"I love you, Oliver. 220 out of 10." She whispered after a while, shoving a spoonful of chocolate mint chip ice cream into her mouth, just like their daughter was doing at the kids' table. 

"So you know what it means now?"

She pursed her lips and cutely waved her head to say 'no'. 

He laughed out loud, causing everyone to turn their attention to them. 

"What?" Thea raised her brows.

"Nothing." Both of them just simply proceeded to eat their ice cream like two kids that had just been caught secretly flirting in class.

After bit more chit-chat and some more chocolate mint chip ice cream, they decided to retire to their bedrooms. Alexa seemed too tired to walk so he carried her up the stairs to her room and tucked her in.

Alexa asked for Druzhok even in her sleep, and Felicity promised to bring the pup to her room in a little while.

"You're the best-est mama." Alexa muttered right before drifting off.

"We have the best-est daughter." Felicity mimicked Alexa as they both stood in the corner watching her sleep.

"We do." He turned Felicity towards him with a little tug on her arm, and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Draping her arms over his shoulders, she stood on her tip toes. "I love you, Oliver." She moved her lips closer to his as if to tease him.

"I love you too." He leaned his head forward to kiss her, but she moved back, and stared at him playfully.

"Forever and Always?" she asked, just as she had asked the first day they met. She had the same warm smile, same hopeful spark in her eyes. The only difference was he was trillion times more in love with her now than he was back then, and he knew she loved him back the same.

"Forever and Always." He promised, finally kissing her cherry sweet lips.

The whole world around them may change one day, but he knew the love they had, the bond they shared, the trust and belief they had in each other would never change. 

 They were each other's _forever and always._

**_The End_**

 


End file.
